User interface for interaction with smart card applications

ABSTRACT

A method of providing an interface to a first application is disclosed. The first application is retained within a memory means ( 276 ) of an electronic card ( 100 ), with at least one of a plurality of user interface elements ( 154 ) being associated with a user interface element object stored in the memory ( 276 ). The memory means ( 276 ) is coupled to a processor means ( 275 ) of the electronic card ( 100 ). The processor means ( 275 ) is coupled to a reading device ( 300 ) configured to facilitate reading of the electronic card ( 100 ). The method executes at least a first application and a second application within the processor means ( 275 ). The second application is configured to associate reading signals generated by the reading device ( 300 ) in response to a selection of at least one of the elements ( 154 ) with a command to be issued to the first application. The second application is configured to provide the interface to the first application.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a control template or smartcard for use with a reader device and, in particular, to amicroprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) smart card defining acustom user interface. The invention also relates to a computer programproduct including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon acomputer program for a microprocessor card or CPU smart card defining acustom user interface.

BACKGROUND ART

Control cards, such as smart cards, often include some form of readablestorage means such as a magnetic strip, an optical code (e.g. a barcode) or an on-board memory chip, for storing data (e.g. a personalidentification number) associated with the card. Such control cards canbe generically referred to as memory cards. However, control cardsincluding a storage means in the form of an on-board memory chip aregenerally referred to as ‘smart cards’. The data stored in the storagemeans is generally read by some form of terminal device, which includesa magnetic read head, for example.

Some smart cards include a microprocessor integrally formed within thesmart card. These smart cards are generally referred to asmicroprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) cards. Some CPU cardsinclude a user interface printed on at least one surface of the card anda a data structure describing the interface, where the data structure isstored in a memory integrally formed within the CPU card.

There are several existing smart card systems, which utilise both memorycards and CPU smart cards including a user interface. One of theseexisting smart card systems utilises a reader device including atransparent touch screen positioned above the smart card so that userinterface elements printed on a surface of the smart card are visibleunderneath the transparent touch screen. For both memory and CPU cards,the reader device is configured to determine the position of a touch onthe transparent screen and use data structure information stored withinthe memory of the card to determine which user interface elements havebeen pressed. Data associated with the pressed user interface element isthen sent as a data string associated with the selected user interfaceelement to a remote application.

Accordingly, the above described smart cards effectively act as aninterface to allow a user to interact with applications executingremotely from the smart card and associated reader.

CPU cards can be configured with one or more software applicationprograms executing within the CPU of the card and being stored in astorage means of the card. Such CPU cards require a multi-applicationoperating system, such as Multos or JavaCard which allow multipleapplications to be simultaneously loaded and running on the CPU card.CPU cards executing a multi-application operating system generallyinclude one or more firewalls preventing applications from accessingmemory belonging to the operating system or to other applications.

One known multi-application CPU card includes a delegation feature,which details the mechanisms used by a first application to invoke asecond application and to share data between the two applications. Thissystem includes a complex data format and associated software interfacein order to allow an operating system executing on the CPU card to issuecommands from one of the applications to another of the applications.

Several standard software interfaces have been developed in order tosimplify the process of issuing commands to applications running on aCPU card. However, these standard software interfaces are inaccessibleto a user of a CPU card so that when the CPU card is used for aparticular application, an associated terminal device must be programmedso that correct commands are issued to the CPU card in response to userinput. If the same CPU card is used in a different smart card system,the second system is generally unable to generate the appropriatecommands from the same user input due to lack of knowledge about thespecific applications resident on the CPU card. As a result, a CPU cardand associated application are not portable and can not be used ondifferent smart card systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, orat least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided amethod of providing an interface to a first application, said firstapplication being retained within a memory means of an electronic card,with at least one of a plurality of user interface elements beingassociated with a user interface element object stored in said memory,said memory means being coupled to a processor means of said electroniccard, said processor means being coupled to a reading device configuredto facilitate reading of said electronic card, said method comprising atleast the steps of executing at least a first application and a secondapplication within said processor means, said second application beingconfigured to associate reading signals generated by said reading devicein response to a selection of at least one of said elements with acommand to be issued to said first application, said second applicationbeing configured to provide said interface to said first application.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedan apparatus for providing an interface to a first application, saidfirst application being retained within a memory means of an electroniccard, with at least one of a plurality of user interface elements beingassociated with a user interface element object stored in said memory,said memory means being coupled to a processor means of said electroniccard, said processor means being coupled to a reading device configuredto facilitate reading of said electronic card, said apparatus comprisingat least execution means for executing at least a first application anda second application within said processor means, said secondapplication being configured to associate reading signals generated bysaid reading device in response to a selection of at least one of saidelements with a command to be issued to said first application, saidsecond application being configured to provide said interface to saidfirst application.

According to still another aspect of the present invention there isprovided a computer program for providing an interface to a firstapplication, said first application being retained within a memory meansof an electronic card, with at least one of a plurality of userinterface elements being associated with a user interface element objectstored in said memory, said memory means being coupled to a processormeans of said electronic card, said processor means being coupled to areading device configured to facilitate reading of said electronic card,said computer program comprising at least code for executing at least afirst application and a second application within said processor means,said second application being configured to associate reading signalsgenerated by said reading device in response to a selection of at leastone of said elements with a command to be issued to said firstapplication, said second application being configured to provide saidinterface to said first application.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of a smart card;

FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view of another smart card;

FIG. 2(a) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the lineII(a)—II(a) of the card shown in FIG. 1(a);

FIG. 2(b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the lineII(b)—II(b);

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a reader device configured for use withthe smart cards of FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) of the card shown in FIG. 1(b);

FIG. 4 shows a user inserting a smart card into the reader of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a user operating the reader of FIG. 3 after the smart cardhas been fully inserted;

FIG. 6(a) shows a hardware architecture for a smart card interfacesystem;

FIG. 6(b) shows another hardware architecture for a smart card interfacesystem;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of the general-purpose computer ofFIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) in more detail;

FIG. 8 is schematic block diagram showing the set top box of FIG. 6(b)in more detail;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram representation of a smart cardinterface system software architecture;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configurationof the reader of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 shows the data structure of a card header as stored in the smartcards of FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b);

FIG. 12 shows one or more object structures following the card header ofFIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a data flow diagram showing the flow of messages within thesystem of FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b);

FIG. 14(a) is a perspective view of still another smart card;

FIG. 14(b) shows user interface element objects associated with thesmart card of FIG. 14(a);

FIG. 15(a) is a perspective view of still another smart card;

FIG. 15(b) shows user interface element objects associated with thesmart card of FIG. 15(a);

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing steps performed by a user in order toretrieve on-line music, over the smart card interface system of FIG.6(b);

FIGS. 17(a) to 17(e) show a number of examples of display outputavailable from the system of FIG. 6(b);

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram showing a method of checking the smart cardsof FIGS. 14(a) and 15(a), performed during the user process of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram showing a method of scanning the touch panelof the reader of FIG. 3, performed during the user process of FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram showing an overview of events of the system ofFIG. 6(a) during the user process of FIG. 16;

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram showing processes performed by the eventmanager during the process of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram showing an overview of a method performed bythe launcher during the process of FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram showing a method of operating the smart cardof FIG. 1(b) using the reader of FIG. 3;

FIG. 24 is a flow diagram showing a process executed when a command isissued to a user interface card resident application executing on thesmart card of FIG. 1(a);

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram showing an initialisation process;

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram showing a proprietary instruction process;

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram showing an International StandardsOrganisation (ISO) instruction process;

FIG. 28 is a flow diagram showing a process coordinate process;

FIG. 29 is a flow diagram showing a user interface element handlerprocess;

FIG. 30 is a flow diagram showing a buffer input user interface elementhandler process;

FIG. 31 is a flow diagram showing a buffer OK process;

FIG. 32 is a flow diagram showing a pass-code checker process;

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram showing a buffer cancel process;

FIG. 34 is a flow diagram showing a buffer backspace process;

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram showing a buffer append process;

FIG. 36 is a flow diagram showing a standard user interface elementprocess;

FIG. 37 is a flow diagram showing a buffered user interface elementprocess;

FIG. 38 is a flow diagram showing a delegator user interface elementprocess;

FIG. 39 is a flow diagram showing an output object data process executedwhen the card of FIG. 1(b) outputs data to the reader of FIG. 3;

FIG. 40 is a flow diagram showing a save state process;

FIG. 41 is a flow diagram showing a restore state process;

FIG. 42 is a flow diagram showing a select file process;

FIG. 43 is a flow diagram showing a read binary process;

FIG. 44 is a flow diagram showing a write binary process;

FIG. 45 is a flow diagram showing an erase binary process;

FIG. 46 is a flow diagram showing a get challenge process;

FIG. 47 is a flow diagram showing an external authenticate process;

FIG. 48 shows a smart card depicting an image of a human face;

FIG. 49(a) shows an example buffer descriptor; and

FIG. 49(b) is a perspective view of another smart card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION INCLUDING BEST MODE

Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawingsto sub-steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals,those sub-steps and/or features have for the purposes of thisdescription the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contraryintention appears.

Excepting where explicitly distinguished, in the following description,the term “data string” means ‘a sequence of bits (i.e. ‘1’ or ‘0’)’ andcan include American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)data, floating point data, and binary representations of integer values,for example.

The embodiments disclosed herein have been developed primarily for usewith automatic tellers, remote control and network access systems, andwill be described hereinafter with reference to these and otherapplications. The embodiments disclosed herein can be used to accessservices such as home shopping, home-banking, video-on-demand,interactive applications such as games and interactive trading cards,and information access such as city guides, television program guidesand educational material. However, it will be appreciated that theinvention is not limited to these fields of use.

For ease of explanation the following description has been divided intoSections 1.0 to 2.6, each section having associated subsections.

1.0 Smart Card Interface System Overview

1.1 Smart Cards

FIG. 1(a) shows a smart card 100A including a planar substrate 112 withvarious user interface elements 114 (i.e. predetermined areas, or iconicrepresentations) printed or otherwise formed on an upper face 116thereof, for example using an adhesive label. For the smart card 100A,the user interface elements 114 are in the form of a four waydirectional controller 120, a “jump button” 122, a “kick button” 124, a“start button” 128 and an “end button” 130 printed on a front face 116thereof. Other forms of user interface elements, such as promotional orinstructional material, can be printed alongside the user interfaceelements 114. For example, advertising material 126 can be printed onthe front face 116 of the smart card 100A or on a reverse face (notshown) of the smart card 100A. In still other forms of the memory card100A, the memory chip 219 can be replaced by a storage means such as amagnetic strip (not shown) formed on one surface of the memory card100A.

As seen in FIG. 2(a), the front face 116 of the smart card 100A may beformed by an adhesive label 260 upon which is printed the user interfacein the form of the user interface elements 114, in this casecorresponding to the “End Button” and the Right arrow “button” of thedirectional controller 120. The label 260 is affixed to the planarsubstrate 112. A home user can print a suitable label for use with aparticular smart card 100A by using a printer. Alternatively, the userinterface elements 114 can be printed directly onto the planar substrate112 or separate adhesive labels can be used for each of the userinterface elements 114.

As also seen in FIG. 2(a), the smart card 100A includes storage means inthe form of an on-board memory chip 219 for storing data associated withthe user interface elements 114. The smart card 100A having a memorychip 219 as described above is generally referred to as a “memory card”.Thus, the smart card 100A will hereinafter be referred to as the memorycard 100A. The memory card 100A also includes electrical data contacts218 connected to the memory chip 219 and via which reading of the memorychip 219 and writing to the memory chip 219 may be performed.

Alternatively, in other forms of the memory card 100A, the memory chip219 can be replaced by storage means in the form of machine-readableindicia such as an optical code (e.g. a barcode) printed on a reverseface (not shown) of the memory card 100A.

Memory cards such as the memory card 100A can be utilised inapplications where strong security of the smart card 100A and datastored in the chip 219 of the smart card 100A, is not required. Thememory card 100A can also be used in applications where it is desired tomaintain the cost of manufacturing the smart card 100A to a minimum.Such smart cards can be used for example, where the memory card 100A isgiven away to promote a service and/or to provide access to the service.The memory card 100A can also be used as a membership card, whichprovides access to a specific service.

FIG. 1(b) shows another smart card 100B again including a planarsubstrate 152 with various user interface elements 154 printed on afront face 156 thereof. In the smart card 100B the user interfaceelements 154 are in the form of a numerical keypad 160, an “OK button”162, a “cancel button” 164, a “clear button” 166 and a “backspacebutton” 168 printed on the front face 156 thereof. Again, other forms ofuser interface elements, such as promotional or instructional material,can be printed alongside the user interface elements 154 such asadvertising material 158.

As seen in FIG. 2(b), the front face 156 of the smart card 100B isformed by an adhesive label 270 affixed to the planar substrate 152 in asimilar manner to the memory card 100A. Again, a user interface in theform of user interface elements 154, in this case corresponding to the“number 3”, “number 6” and “number 9” buttons of the numerical keypad160 and the “backspace button” 168, is printed on the adhesive label270.

As also seen in FIG. 2(b), the smart card 100B includes a microprocessor259 having an integrally formed central processing unit (CPU) 275 andstorage means 276. The storage means 276 generally includes volatilerandom access memory (RAM) (not shown) and non-volatile flash (ROM)memory (not shown), and can be used to store data associated with theuser interface elements 154, application software code associated withthe smart card 100B and/or information (e.g. a personal identificationnumber) associated with the user and/or manufacturer of the smart card100B. The smart card 100B will hereinafter be referred to as the CPUcard 100B. The CPU card 100B also includes electrical data contacts 278connected to the microprocessor 259 and which perform a similar role tothe contacts 218 of FIG. 2(a). In particular, the electrical datacontacts 278 can be used to send instructions to the microprocessor 259and to receive data resulting from the execution of those instructionson the microprocessor 259.

CPU cards such as the CPU card 100B can be utilised in applicationswhere enhanced user authentication and/or higher levels of security ofthe CPU card 100B and data stored in the storage means 276, is required.

It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the relevant art, that theuser interfaces in the form of the user interface elements 114 and 154can be interchanged for the smart cards 100A and 100B. Further, the userinterfaces able to be printed by a user and/or manufacturer for thesmart cards 100A and 100B can take many forms. Memory cards such as thememory card 100A and CPU cards such as the CPU card 100B, having a userinterface formed on one surface of the card can be referred to as ‘UserInterface Cards. However, excepting where explicitly distinguished, inthe following description, the memory card 100A and the CPU card 100Bwill be generically referred to as the smart card 100.

1.2 Smart Card Reader

FIG. 3 shows a smart card reader 300 configured for use with both thememory card 100A and the CPU card 100B. The configuration of theelectrical data contacts 218 and 278 of the memory card 100A and the CPUcard 100B, respectively, correspond to exposed contacts 307 of the smartcard reader 300, as shown in FIG. 3. The reader 300 is formed of ahousing 301 incorporating a receptacle 304 into which the smart card 100may be inserted, a viewing area 306 and an access opening 310 configuredto accept a smart card 100. An upper boundary of the viewing area 306 isdefined by sensor means in the form of a substantially transparentpressure sensitive membrane 308 or simply “touch panel” spaced above theexposed contacts 307 so as to form the receptacle 304. It will beappreciated by a person skilled in the relevant art that alternativetechnology can be used as the touch panel 308. For example, the touchpanel 308 can be resistive or temperature sensitive.

In use, a smart card 100 is inserted by a user into the smart cardreceptacle 304, through the access opening 310, as shown in FIG. 4. Whenthe smart card 100 is fully inserted into the reader 300, the touchpanel 308 fully covers the upper face 116, 156 of the smart card 100.The viewing area 306 preferably has substantially the same dimensions asthe upper face 116, 156 of the smart card 100 such that the upper face116, 156 is, for all intents and purposes, fully visible within theviewing area 306 through the touch panel 308. In this position, the datacontacts 218, 278 of the card 100 engage the exposed contacts 307 sothat circuitry (not shown) within the reader 300 can communicate withthe memory chip 219 or microprocessor 259 of the card 100.

When the card 100 is fully inserted into the reader 300, a user canpress areas of the touch panel 308, as shown in FIG. 5, overlying theuser interface elements 114, 154. For the memory card 100A, the reader300 deduces which of the user interface elements 114 the user hasselected by sensing the pressure on the touch panel 308 and referring tothe data stored in the memory chip 219. For example, if the user placespressure on the touch panel 308 adjacent the “kick button” 124, thereader 300 is configured to assess the position at which the pressurewas applied, refer to the stored data, and determine that the “kickbutton” 124 was selected.

In contrast, for the CPU card 100B, the CPU 275 determines which of theuser interface elements 154 the user has selected by processingcoordinates received from the reader 300 upon the reader 300 sensingpressure on the touch panel 308, and then the CPU 275 referring to thedata stored in the storage means 276 of the microprocessor 259. In thiscase, it is not necessary for the reader 300 to be able to read and tobe made aware of the data stored in the storage means 276 of themicroprocessor 259. The operation of the CPU card 100B in relation tothe reader 300 will be explained in more detail in Sections 2.0 to 2.6below.

Information resulting from a user selecting one of the user interfaceelements 114, 154 can be used to control an external device, forexample, an associated automatic teller machine (of conventionalconstruction and not shown). It will be appreciated from above that theuser interface elements 114, 154 are not, in fact buttons. Rather, theuser interface elements 114 are user selectable features which, byvirtue of their corresponding association with the data stored in thememory chip 219 or storage means 276, and the function of the touchpanel 308, operate to emulate buttons traditionally associated withremote control devices.

In one advantageous implementation, the reader 300 includes atransmitter (of conventional type and not shown), such as an infra-red(IR) transmitter or radio frequency (RF) transmitter, for transmittinginformation in relation to user interface elements 114, 154 selected bythe user. In this case, upon selection of one of the user interfaceelements 114, 154, the reader 300 causes information related to theselection to be transmitted to a remote console (not shown in FIG. 5)where a corresponding infra-red or radio frequency remote module candetect and decode the information for use in controlling some function,such as a banking application executing on the automatic teller machinediscussed above.

Any suitable transmission method can be used to communicate informationfrom the reader 300 to a remote module, including direct hard wiring.Moreover, the remote module itself can incorporate a transmitter, andthe reader 300 a receiver for communication in an opposite direction tothat already described. The communication from the remote module to thereader 300 can include, for example, handshaking data, setupinformation, or any other form of information desired to be transferredfrom the remote module to the reader 300.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configurationof the reader 300 in more detail. The reader 300 includes amicrocontroller 1044 for controlling the reader 300, for coordinatingcommunications between the reader 300 and a remote module, and forstoring mapping information and firmware, for example. Themicrocontroller 1044 includes random access memory (RAM) 1047 and flash(ROM) memory 1046. The microcontroller 1044 also includes a centralprocessor unit (CPU) 1045. The microcontroller 1044 is connected to aclock source 1048 and a clock controller 1043 for coordinating thetiming of events within the microcontroller 1044. The CPU 1045 issupplied with electrical power from a battery 1053, the operation of theformer being controlled by a power controller 1050. Alternatively, inone implementation, the CPU 1045 can be supplied with power via auniversal serial bus cable (not shown) connected to a reader associatedwith the power coming from a personal computer or similar device. Themicrocontroller 1044 is also connected to a beeper 1051 for givingaudible feedback about card entry status.

Infra-red (IR) communications, as discussed above, can be implementedusing two circuits connected to the microcontroller 1044, an infra-redtransmitter (TX) 1049 for infra-red transmission and an infra-red remotemodule (RX) 1040 for infra-red reception. The touch panel 308 of thereader 300 communicates with the microcontroller 1044 via a touch panelinterface 1041 and the electrical contacts 307.

An in-system-programming interface 1052 can also be connected to themicrocontroller 1044, to enable programming of the microcontroller 1044with firmware by way of the microprocessor flash memory 1046.

1.3 Hardware Architecture

FIG. 6(a) shows a hardware architecture of a card interface system 600A.In the system 600A, the reader 300 is hard wired to a personal computersystem 700 via a communications cable 603. Alternatively, instead ofbeing hardwired, a radio frequency or infrared transceiver 654 formed inthe personal computer system 700 can be used to communicate with thereader 300. The personal computer system 700 includes a display device701, a computer module 702, a keyboard 704 and mouse 703, and will beexplained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 7.

The system 600A includes the smart card 100 which is programmable andcan be created or customised by a third party, who may be a party otherthan the manufacturer of the smart card 100 and/or the card reader 300.The third party can be the ultimate user of the smart card 100 itself,or may be an intermediary between the manufacturer and user. In thesystem 600A of FIG. 6(a), the smart card 100 can be programmed andcustomised for one touch operation to communicate with the computer 700and obtain a service over a computer network 720, such as the Internet,coupled to the computer 700. The computer 700 operates to interpretsignals sent via the communications cable 603 from the reader 300,according to a specific protocol, which will be described below. Thecomputer 700 performs the selected function according to touched userinterface elements 114, 154 and can be configured to communicate dataover the network 720. In this manner, the computer 700 can permit accessto applications and/or data stored on remote server computers 650, 652and appropriate reproduction on the display device 701, by way of usermanipulation of the reader 300 and card 100.

FIG. 6(b) shows a hardware architecture of a card interface system 600B.In the system 600B, the reader 300 can be programmed for obtaining aservice locally at a set top box 601, that couples to an outputinterface, which in this example takes the form of an audio-visualoutput device 616, such as a digital television set. The set-top box 601operates to interpret signals 612 received from the reader 300, whichmay be electrical, radio frequency, or infra-red (IR), and according toa specific protocol which will be described below. The set top box 601can be configured to perform the selected function according to toucheduser interface elements 114, 154 and permit appropriate reproduction onthe output device 616. Alternatively, the set top box 601 can beconfigured to convert the signals 612 to a form suitable forcommunication and cause appropriate transmission to the computer 700 viathe network 720. The computer 700 can then perform the selected functionaccording to the user interface elements 114, 154, and provide data tothe set-top box 601 to permit appropriate reproduction on the outputdevice 616. The set top box 601 will be explained in more detail belowwith reference to FIG. 8.

In one application of the system 600B, the smart card 100 can beprogrammed for obtaining a service either remotely or locally. Forinstance, the smart card 100 can be programmed to retrieve anapplication and/or data stored on remote server computers 650, 652, viathe network 720, and to load the application or data on to the set topbox 601. The latter smart card can be alternatively programmed to obtaina service from the loaded application on the set top box 601.

Excepting where explicitly distinguished, the systems 600A and 600B ofFIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) will be hereinafter generically referred to as thesystem 600.

FIG. 7 shows the general-purpose computer system 700 of the system 600,which can be used to run the card interface system and to run softwareapplications for programming the smart card 100. The computer system 700includes the computer module 702, input devices such as the keyboard 704and mouse 703, output devices including a printer (not shown) and thedisplay device 701. A Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device716 is used by the computer module 702 for communicating to and from thecommunications network 720, for example connectable via a telephone line721 or other functional medium. The modem 716 can be used to obtainaccess to the Internet, and other network systems, such as a Local AreaNetwork (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN).

The computer module 702 typically includes at least one centralprocessing unit (CPU) 705, a memory unit 706, for example formed fromsemiconductor random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM),input/output (I/O) interfaces including a video interface 707, and anI/O interface 713 for the keyboard 704 and mouse 703, a write device715, and an interface 208 for the modem 216. The I/O interface 713 alsoincludes the IR transceiver 654 connected to the I/O interface 713 forcommunicating directly with the reader 300. A storage device 709 isprovided and typically includes a hard disk drive 710 and a floppy diskdrive 711. A magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) is also able to beused. A CD-ROM drive 712 is typically provided as a non-volatile sourceof data. The components 705 to 713 of the computer module 702, typicallycommunicate via an interconnected bus 704 and in a manner, which resultsin a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 702 known tothose in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which thearrangement described herein can be practised include IBM-computers andcompatibles, Sun Sparcstations or alike computer system evolvedtherefrom.

Typically, the software programs such as applications of the system 600are resident on the hard disk drive 710 and read and controlled in theirexecution by the CPU 705. Intermediate storage of the softwareapplication programs and any data fetched from the network 720 may beaccomplished using the semiconductor memory 706, possibly in concertwith the hard disk drive 710. In some instances, the applicationprograms can be supplied to the user encoded on a CD-ROM or floppy diskand read via the corresponding drive 712 or 711, or alternatively may beread by the user from the network 720 via the modem device 716. Stillfurther, the software can also be loaded into the computer system 702from other computer readable medium including magnetic tape, ROM orintegrated circuits, a magneto-optical disk, a radio or infra-redtransmission channel between the computer module 702 and another device,a computer readable card such as a smart card, a computer PCMCIA card,and the Internet and Intranets including email transmissions andinformation recorded on Websites and the like. The foregoing is merelyexemplary of relevant computer readable media. Other computer readablemedia are able to be practised without departing from the scope of theinvention defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 8 shows the set top box 601 of the system 600, which can be used tointerpret the signals 612 received from the reader 300. The set top box601 in some implementations essentially is a scaled version of thecomputer module 702. The set top box 601 typically includes at least oneCPU unit 805, a memory unit 806, for example formed from semiconductorrandom access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM), and input/output(I/O) interfaces including at least an I/O interface 813 for the digitaltelevision 616, an I/O interface 815 having an IR transceiver 808 forreceiving and transmitting the signals 612, and an interface 817 forcoupling to the network 720. The components 805, 806, 813, 815 and 817of the set top box 601, typically communicate via an interconnected bus804 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation.Intermediate storage of any data received from the reader 300 or network720 may be accomplished using the semiconductor memory 806.Alternatively, the set top box can include a storage device (not shown)similar to the storage device 709.

1.4 Programming the Smart Card

As described above, the smart card 100 is programmable and can becreated or customised by a third party. For example, with the system600, the smart card 100 can be programmed and customised for one touchoperation to communicate with the set-top box 601 and/or computer 700and obtain a service over the network 720. The smart card 100 can beprogrammed by means of the write device 715 coupled to the I/O interface713 of the computer module 702. The write device 715 has the capabilityof writing data to the memory chip 219 on the memory card 100A or thestorage means 276 of the microprocessor 259 for the CPU card 100B.Preferably, data is not able to be written to the storage means 276unless a value, calculated in accordance with a predetermined electronickey, is first presented to the microprocessor 259. Depending upon thespecific implementation the write device 715 may also be configured toprint graphics on to the front surface 116, 156 of the smart card 100using image production software application programs. The write device715 may also have a function for reading data from the smart card 100.

The write device can be configured such that the user can insert thesmart card 100 into the write device 715 and then enter the requireddata. A software application can then write the data entered by the userto the memory of the smart card 100 via the write device 715. If thestored data is encoded for optical decoding such as in the case of abarcode memory card, the write device 715 can print the encoded dataonto the memory card 100A.

For the CPU card 100B, the microprocessor 259 can be constructed so thatonce programmed in the manner described, the contents cannot thereafterbe casually read.

1.5 Software Architecture Layout

FIG. 9 shows a software architecture 900 for the hardware architecturedepicted by the system 600. The architecture 900 can be divided intoseveral distinct process components and one class of process. Thedistinct processes include an I/O interface 920, which may becolloquially called an “I/O daemon” 920, an event manager 901, a displaymanager 906, an (application) launcher 903 and a directory service 911.The class of process is formed by one or more applications 904. In thearchitecture 900 described herein, there exists one I/O daemon 920, oneevent manager 901, one display manager 906 and one launcher 903 forevery smart card remote connection, usually formed by the set-top box601. Where processes responsible for multiple remote connections arerunning on a single computer (e.g. the computers 700, 650 or 652) whichprovides support for a number of set-top boxes 601, a master launcher908 (shown in FIG. 9 in phantom lines) can be used. The master launcher908 communicates directly with the event manager 901 and starts alauncher 903 for every set-top box 601 which connects to master launcher908. The architecture 900 also includes at least one directory service911. The directory service 911, is queried by the launcher 903 totranslate data into a Resource Locater (eg. URL) that indicates a nameor location of a service or the location or name of an application 904to be used for the service.

In this form, the architecture 900 can be physically separated into sixdistinct parts 601, 701, 907, 909, 912 and 913 as shown by the dashedlines in FIG. 9, each of which can be run on physically separatecomputing devices. Alternatively, the display 701 can be a device withlittle or no computing capacity. Communication between each of the partsof the system 900 can be executed using Transport ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) streams. Alternatively, each of theparts 601, 701, 907, 909, 912 and 913 can be run on the same machine.

In the system 600A of FIG. 6(a), all of the process components 901, 903,904, 906 and 920 can be run on the computer 700. The event manager 901,the launcher 903 and display manager 906 are preferably integrated intoone executable program which is stored in the hard disk 709 of thecomputer 700 and can be read and controlled in its execution by the CPU705. The directory service 911 may run on the same computer 700 or on adifferent computer (e.g. server 650) connected to the computer 700 viathe network 720.

In the system 600B of FIG. 6(b), all of components 901, 903, 904, 906and 920 can run from the set-top-box 601. In this instance, thecomponents 901, 903, 904, 906 and 920 can be stored in the memory 806 ofthe set top box 601 and can be read and controlled in their execution bythe CPU 805. The directory service 911 can run on one of the computers650, 652 or 700 and can be stored in the hard disk drive 710 of thecomputer 700, for example, and be read and controlled in its executionby the CPU 705. Alternatively, the directory service 911 can be run onthe set top box 601 or its function executed by the launcher 903.

In a further alternative arrangement, if the set-top-box 601 is notpowerful enough to run the system 600 locally, only the I/O daemon 920need run on the set-top-box 601 and the remainder of the architecture900 (i.e. process components 901, 903, 904, 906 and 911) can be runremotely on the other servers (650, 652) which can be accessed via thenetwork 720. In this instance, the I/O daemon 920 can be stored in thememory 806 of the set top box 601 and can be read and controlled in itsexecution by the CPU 805. Again, the functional parts of such a systemcan be divided as shown in FIG. 9. In this instance, the display 701corresponds to an audio-visual output device (e.g. a television set).

The I/O daemon 920 is a process component that converts datagramsreceived from the reader 300 into a TCP/IP stream that can be sent tothe event manager 901 and vice versa (e.g. when using a two-wayprotocol). The event manager 901 is configured to gather all events thatare generated by the reader 300 and relayed by the I/O daemon 920. Theseevents are then redistributed to the various process components 903,904, 906 and 908 and running applications. The event manager 901 is alsoconfigured to check that an event has a valid header and correct datalength. An “event” in this regard represents a single data transactionfrom the I/O daemon 920 or the launcher 903 or applications 904. Themaster launcher 908 can be used to start the launcher 903 correspondingto each of the event managers 901 if more than one event manager isrunning on the system 600. The launcher 903 is an application thatstarts other applications for a specific event manager 901. The launcher903 starts and ends applications and can also start and end sessions.The launcher 903 also informs the event manager 901 when applicationsare starting and ending, and informs the applications 904 when they aregaining or losing focus, or when they need to exit. The display manager906 selects which smart card application 904 is currently able todisplay output on the display device 701 (i.e. the “front” application).

The directory service 911 is configured to translate service identifiersthat are stored on smart cards 100, into resource locators (e.g. a URL)that indicate the location of the services or the location of anapplication associated with a service. The directory service 911 is alsoconfigured to translate optional service data. The directory service 911allows the launcher 903 associated with a particular card 100 to decidewhat to do with a resource locator, for example, download and run theassociated application 904 or load the resource locator into a browserapplication.

The applications 904 associated with a particular smart card 100 can bestarted by the launcher 903 associated with that smart card 100 inresponse to a selection of one of the user interface elements 114, 154of a corresponding smart card 100. Each application 904 can be a memberof one or more application service groups. An application service groupis comprised of a number of smart card applications 904 that actco-operatively, as opposed to merely simultaneously, to provide aparticular set of functions. An application 904 can be specified to notbe part of any service group in which case the application will never berun with other applications. An application can become part of a servicegroup once the application is running and can remove itself from aservice group when the application is the currently front application.

In a still further alternative arrangement, the process components 901to 906 and 908 described above can be implemented in dedicated hardware(e.g. the set top box 601) as one or more integrated circuits performingthe described functions or sub-functions. Such dedicated hardware mayinclude graphic CPUs, digital signal CPUs, or one or more micro-CPUs andassociated memories.

Typically, applications 904 are resident on the hard disk drive 710 andread and controlled in their execution by the CPU 705. Intermediatestorage of programs and any data fetched from the network 720 can beaccomplished using the semiconductor memory 706, possibly in concertwith the hard disk drive 710. In some instances, the applications 904will be supplied to the user encoded on a CD-ROM or floppy disk and readvia the corresponding drive 711 or 712, or alternatively may be readfrom the network 720 via the modem device 716. Other mechanisms forloading the applications 904 into the computer system 700 from othercomputer readable medium include magnetic tape, a ROM or integratedcircuit, a magneto-optical disk, a radio or infra-red transmissionchannel between the computer module 702 and another device, a computerreadable card such as a smart card (not shown), a computer ‘PersonalComputer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card’ (notshown), and the Internet and/or Intranets including email transmissionsand information recorded on Websites and the like. The foregoing ismerely exemplary of relevant computer readable media. Other computerreadable media are also possible including combinations of thosedescribed above.

1.6 Smart Card Data Format

The smart card 100 generally stores a data structure in memory 219, 276that describes various card properties and any user interface elements114, 154 printed on the smart card 100. The smart card 100 can alsoinclude global properties that specify attributes such as informationabout the smart card 100, vendor and a service. Further, user-interfaceobjects, as will be explained in detail below, can specify data to beassociated with the user interface elements 114, 154 printed on thesurface of a corresponding smart card 100.

For the memory card 100A, data conforming to the format to be describedcan be copied directly into the memory chip 219 of the smart card 100.For the CPU card 100B, data conforming to the format to be described canbe stored in the storage means 276 as a file being one file of a filesystem implemented on the CPU card 100B. Such a file system will bedescribed in detail below. In either case, to ensure that the cost ofthe smart card 100 can be kept to a minimum, the amount of data storedon the smart card 100 is kept to a minimum. For example, where the smartcard 100 is being used as a music sampler and associated on-lineservice, the memory 219, 276 of the smart card 100 does not contain themusic itself. The smart card 100 only contains data associated with theuser interface in the form of the user interface elements 114, 154 andcertain identifiers, which will be described in detail below. If thesmart card 100 has limited storage capacity (e.g. in the case where thesmart card 100 utilises a barcode), the smart code 100 may only includea card identifier as will be explained in detail below.

The user-interface objects referred to above can represent mapping data,which relate the user interface elements 114, 154 imprinted directly ona surface of the smart card 100, to commands or addresses (eg: UniformResource Locators (URLs)). The mapping data includes (X,Y) coordinatesthat typically define the size and location of user interface elements114, 154 on the smart card 100. The user-interface objects arepreferably stored in the memory 219, 276 of the smart card 100.Alternatively, the user-interface objects can be stored not on the smartcard 100 itself, but in the system 600. For example, the smart card 100can store, via the memory 219, 276 a barcode or a magnetic strip, aunique identifier, which is unique to smart cards 100 havingsubstantially similar user interface elements 114, 154 and layout. Theunique identifier together with the coordinates determined from thetouch panel 308, as a result of a user press, can be transmitted by thereader 100 to the computer 700 or to the set top box 601, of the system600.

The system 600 can have the user-interface objects stored on thecomputer 700, set top box 601 or server 650, which may thus be arrangedto perform the mapping from the determined coordinates to acorresponding command, address or data relevant to a service associatedwith the smart card 100 and a user selection of one of the userinterface elements 114, 154, in order to provide a desired functionrepresented by the selected user interface elements. In this instance,the data related to the user selected user interface elements 114, 154as described above takes the form of coordinates determined by themicrocontroller 1044 of the reader 300 as a result of a user applyingpressure to a portion of the touch panel 308 which overlays the desireduser interface elements 114, 154.

Data stored in the smart card 100 includes a card header followed byzero or more objects as described in the following sections.

1.6.1 Card Header

FIG. 11 shows the data structure of a card header 1100 as stored in thesmart card 100. The header 1100 includes a number of rows 1101, each ofwhich represent four bytes of data. The data is preferably in ‘bigendian’ format. The complete header is 19 bytes long and includes thefollowing fields (described in more detail in Table 1 below):

-   (i) magic number field 1102, which includes a constant specifying a    smart card as being a valid memory card 100A or CPU card 100B. For    example, the magic number field 1102 can be used to check or verify    that a propriety card belonging to a particular manufacture is being    used;-   (ii) versions field 1103, which includes each version increment that    specifies a change in the smart card layout that cannot be read by a    reader 300 which is compatible with lower versions of the layout;-   (iii) reserved field 1104, this field is reserved for future use;-   (iv) flags field 1105, which includes flags for a smart card (see    Table 2 below);-   (v) card identifier field 1110, which includes two fields—a service    1106 and a service specific field 1107. The service field 1106    identifies the service of a corresponding smart card 100 and the    service specific field 1107 optionally contains a service-specific    value;-   (vi) a number of objects field 1108, which includes a number value    representing how many objects follow the header 1100. This field can    be set to zero; and-   (vii) a checksum field 1109, which includes a card checksum of all    data on a corresponding smart card 100 excluding the checksum    itself.

Table 1 below provides a description of the content of the various(number) fields described with reference to FIG. 11.

TABLE 1 Field Number Description (Card Header) Magic Number Two bytemagic number. A constant that specifies this as being a valid card.Currently defined as the ASCII value for ‘i’ followed by the ASCII valuefor ‘C’. Version One byte version number. Each version incrementspecifies a change in the card layout that can not be read by a readerthat is compatible with lower versions of the layout. This documentdescribes version 1(0x01) of the card format. Reserved This data isreserved for future use. Its value must be set to zero. Flags Four bytesof flags for this card. (See Table 2). All non- assigned bits must bezero. Card Identifier Eight byte card identifier. Card identifiersinclude two fields - service identifier and service-specific identifier.The service identifier is five bytes and identifies the serviceassociated with the card. The service-specific identifier is three bytesof service specific value. Number of One byte. The number of objectsfollowing this header. Objects Can be zero. Checksum Card checksum, 2bytes. The card checksum is sixteen bit, unsigned integer sum of alldata bytes on the card excluding the checksum.

The card identifier field 1110 comprises an eight-byte card identifier.The card identifier includes two portions (i.e. unit pieces of data),namely, a service identifier and a service-specific identifier.Preferably, the card identifier is arranged so that the serviceidentifier occupies five bytes and the service-specific identifieroccupies three bytes of the total card identifier value.

The service identifier contained in the field 1106 may be used todistinguish one service from another or distinguishes one vendor fromanother. That is, for example, a service can be associated with anapplication that provides the service to the user of a smart card 100 asdistinct from a vendor who can provide multiple services to the user byproviding multiple applications. The service identifier can be anidentifier to identify the application to be used or applicationlocation (e.g. URL).

The card identifier can be used to configure generic smart cards for thesystem 600. Generic smart cards are smart cards 100 having a specialservice identifier that can be used to provide input to a currentapplication already running. The special value for the serviceidentifier, referred to as “the generic service identifier”, is0x0000000001, where ‘0x’ represents hexadecimal notation (i.e. every twocharacters of the generic service identifier represent the value of asingle byte). A generic smart card can be used to send data to a frontapplication already running on the system 600. For example, a smart card100 having a keypad user interface that can be used to send text inputto an application which has focus or a smart card 100 with personaldetails that can also be used to submit the personal information storedon the smart card 100 to any application.

A smart card 100 identification authority can assign service identifiersto a vendor when the vendor registers a particular service.

The service-specific identifier contained in the field 1107, asdescribed above, can be optionally used by the vendor of a particularservice to provide predetermined functions associated with thatparticular service. The use of the service-specific identifier issubstantially dependent upon an application 904 being executed on thesystem 600. For example, the service identifier together with theservice-specific identifier can be used as a unique identifier for acard 100. This unique identifier can be used by an application 904 togain or deny access to a specific feature associated with a particularservice, to reproduce a specific-service identifier in a log file inorder to confirm or verify that a particular smart card 100 having thatvalue was used to access a service, and to provide a unique identifierthat can be matched up with a corresponding value in a database in orderto retrieve information about the user of the service (eg: name,address, credit card number etc).

Another example of a use for the service-specific identifier can includeproviding information about a mechanism or mode of distribution of thesmart cards 100 (e.g. by mail, bus terminal kiosks, handed out on atrain etc). Further, the service-specific identifier, can identify whatdata is to be loaded into the system 600 when a service is accessed.

The foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of possible usesor applications of the service-specific identifier but a small sample ofpossible applications and there are many other applications of theservice-specific identifier of field 1107.

1.6.2 Card Flags

The flags field 1105 of the header 1100 of FIG. 11 can include threeflags.

For the memory card 100A and the CPU card 100B, the flags of the flagsfield 1105 are as follows:

-   (i) Background beep;-   (ii) Move; and-   (iii) Don't Report Background Coordinates.

Table 2 below provides a description of each of the above flags (i) to(iii). The above flags (i) to (iii) affect the functions that the smartcard 100 can perform in a reader 300, as is defined by the descriptionof each flag.

TABLE 2 Name Description Value (hex) Background Causes the reader toprovide audio feedback 0x0000 0001 Beep whenever the background istouched. Move Causes the reader to send all move events 0x0000 0002 fromwhen the touch panel was pressed until the touch panel is released.Don't Report Causes the reader to suppress reporting of 0x0000 0004Background the co-ordinates of all presses and releases Co-ordinates ofthe touch panel, when they correspond to the background, reporting theminstead as (0xFF, 0xFF).1.6.3 Objects

As shown in FIG. 12, immediately following the card header 1100 of FIG.11 can be zero or more object structures 1213 defining the objects of aparticular smart card 100 and forming part of the data stored on thesmart card 100. Each object structure 1213 comprises four fields asfollows:

-   -   (i) a type field 1201;    -   (ii) an object flags field 1203;    -   (iii) a length field 1205; and    -   (iv) a data field 1207.

The structure of the data field 1207 depends on the object type as willbe described below.

Table 3 below shows a description of each of the fields 1201, 1203, 1205and 1207 of the object structure 1213.

TABLE 3 Name Description (Object Structure) Length Type The type ofobject (see Table 5). 1 byte Object Flags The general object flags thatare associated 1 byte with this object (see Table 4). Note: Additionalflags specific to an object type are specified within the data field ofthe object. Length The length of the data following this object. 2 bytesThis value can be zero. Data The data associated with this object. TheVariable structure of this data is dependent on the type of object.

The flags field 1203 of the object structure 1213, preferably includesan inactive flag. Table 4 below shows a description of the inactiveflag.

TABLE 4 Name Description (Pre-Object Flag Values) Value (hex) InactiveIndicates to the reader that the object is valid 0x01 but is to beignored regardless of it's type.

For the smart card 100, there are preferably eight object typesprovided, as follows:

-   -   (i) User Interface Element: Text;    -   (ii) User Interface Element: Delegator;    -   (iii) User Interface Element: Buffer    -   (iv) Card Data;    -   (v) Fixed Length Data;    -   (vi) Reader Insert;    -   (vii) No operation; and    -   (viii) No operation (single byte).        Table 5 shows a description of each of the above object        types (i) to (viii).

TABLE 5 Name Description) Value (hex) No operation A single byte objectthat doesn't have a 0x00 (single byte) standard object header. Used tofill spaces on the card that are too small for a normal object header.No Operation An object that is used to fill blocks of 0x01 empty spaceon the card. User Interface A user interface element with raw data.(inline) 0x10 Element: Text (file) 0x11 User Interface A user interfaceelement which initiates (inline) 0x12 Element: Buffer buffered inputmode. (CPU card only). (file) 0x13 User Interface A user interfaceelement containing a (inline 0x14 Element: command to be invoked onanother card (file) 0x15 Delegator resident application (CPU card only).Card Data Contains data that relates specifically to 0x20 this card.Card data would normally be read by the reader and sent as part of theINSERT message on card insertion. Fixed length An object that can beused to store fixed 0x30 Data length blocks of data on the card. ReaderInsert An object that can be used to give 0x40 instructions to thereader when the card is inserted.1.6.3.1 User Interface Element Objects

Each of the user interface element objects of Table 5 define arectangular area on a smart card 100 and some quantity of associateddata that is is used to generate an output when the user touches an areaof the touch panel 308 over the corresponding rectangular area of thesmart card 100. The origin for the coordinate mapping system is the topleft of the smart card 100 in accordance with an International StandardsOrganisation standard smart card held in a portrait view with the chipcontacts 218, 278 facing away from the viewer and towards the bottom ofthe smart card 100. For any reader 300 that does not use this cardorientation, the values of corner points on the smart card 100 must beadjusted by the reader 300 for the memory card 100A or by the CPU 275for the CPU card 100B, so as to report a correct “button” press.

The user interface element objects structure preferably has six fieldsas follows:

-   (i) a flags field;-   (ii) an X1 field;-   (iii) an Y1 field;-   (iv) an X2 field;-   (v) a Y2 field; and-   (vi) a data field which typically includes data associated with the    user interface element for example, a URL, a command, a character or    name.

Table 6 shows a description of each of the above fields for thedescribed user interface element object structure. A press on the touchpanel 308 is defined to be inside an area defined by a particular userinterface element corresponding to a user interface element objectstructure if:

-   -   (i) the X value of the press location is greater than or equal        to the X1 value of the associated user interface element object        and is strictly less than the X2 value for that particular user        interface element object; and    -   (ii) the Y value for the press location is greater than or equal        to the Y1 value of the particular user interface element object        and strictly less than the Y2 value.

TABLE 6 Field Description (User Interface Object Structure) Size FlagsFlags specific to this user interface element on the 1 byte card. X1 Xvalue of the top-left hand corner co-ordinate of this 1 byte object'srectangle. Y1 Y value of the top-left hand corner co-ordinate of this 1byte object's rectangle. X2 X value of the bottom-right hand cornerco-ordinates 1 byte of this object's rectangle. Y2 Y value of thebottom-right hand corner co-ordinate of 1 byte this object's rectangle.Data Zero or more bytes of data associated with this object. Variable Inmemory cards, the actual data is always stored within this field. ForCPU cards, this field may contain a file identifier which points to afile where the data is actually stored. The size of this field isdetermined by the object data size minus the combined size of the abovefields.

Overlapping user interface elements are allowed. In this case, if apress is within the bounds of more than one user interface element thenthe object resulting from the press is determined by a Z order. Theorder of the user interface elements 114, 154 on the smart card 100defines the Z ordering for all of the user interface elements on thatparticular smart card 100. The top user interface element is the firstuser interface element for a particular smart card 100. The bottom userinterface element is the last user interface element for that particularsmart card 100. This allows for non-rectangular areas to be defined. Forexample, to define an “L” shaped user interface element, a first userinterface element object would be defined with zero bytes in the datafield, and a second user interface element object would be defined tothe left and below the first user interface element object butoverlapping the first user interface element object. The second userinterface element would contain the data that is to be associated withthe “L” shaped user interface element.

The location of a press is reported in “fingels”, which represent fingerelements (analogous to “pixels” which represent picture elements). Theheight of a fingel is defined to be {fraction (1/256)}th of the lengthof an International Standards Organisation memory smart card and thewidth is defined to be {fraction (1/128)}th of the width of anInternational Standards Organisation memory smart card.

The behaviour associated with each user interface element 114, 154 maybe modified using one or more flags. For both the memory card 100A andthe CPU card 100B, each user interface element 154 preferably has sevenassociated flags as follows:

-   -   (i) Beep;    -   (ii) Move;    -   (iii) Don't report coordinates;    -   (iv) Auto repeat;    -   (v) Do Not Send Data on Press;    -   (vi) Do Not Send Data on Release; and    -   (vii) Encrypt Out-going data.

Table 7 shows a description for each of the user interface element flags(i) to (vii).

TABLE 7 Name Description Value Beep This flag causes the reader to beepwhen the 0x01 user interface element is pressed. Don't Report This flaginstructs the reader to suppress 0x04 Co-ordinates reporting of theco-ordinates of the associated press or release, reporting them insteadas (0xFF, 0xFF). Auto-repeat This element automatically repeats when the0x08 press is held on the element. Don't Send This causes the associateduser interface 0x10 Data on Press element not to send the dataassociated with this user interface element in the press event. Thedefault is to send the data associated with the user interface elementin the press event. Don't Send Data This causes this user interfaceelement not to 0x20 on Release send the data associated with this userinterface element in the release event. The default is to send the dataassociated with the user interface element in the release event. EncryptOutgoing This causes the data associated with the user 0x40 Datainterface element to be encrypted using a previously agreed upon sessionkey. If no session key is present, no data is sent. (CPU cards only).

Data associated with a user interface element 114, 154 on the smart card100 can be referenced as ‘Inline Data’ which is stored directly in thedata field of a user interface element. However, for the CPU card 100B,data associated with a user interface element can also be referenced as‘File Data’. File data is stored in a separate elementary file in thestorage means 276 of the microprocessor 259 and the structure of datafield associated with such an elementary file is shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Name Length Description File_id 2 bytes The 16-bit ISOidentifier corresponding to the required file Header variable A variablelength header, which is prepended to the file contents in order toidentify the user interface element. This may be empty.1.6.3.2 Card Data

The card data object is used to store data which is specific to aparticular card 100. The data layout for this object has no fixed form.The contents of the card data object are sent from the reader 300 aspart of an INSERT message when the smart card 100 is inserted into thereader 300.

1.6.3.4 Fixed Length Data

The fixed length data object is used to define a fixed length block onthe smart card 100 that can be written to by the computer 700, forexample.

1.6.3.5 Reader Insert

The reader insert object is used to store instructions for the reader300 when a particular smart card 100 is inserted. This can be used, forexample, to instruct the reader 300 to use a specific configuration ofinfra-red commands to allow communication with a specific set top box(e.g. 601) or TV.

1.6.3.6 No Operation

The No Operation object is used to fill in unused sections between otherobjects on a particular smart card 100. Any data stored in the nooperation object is ignored by the reader 300. Any unused space at theend of the smart card 100 does not need to be filled in with a nooperation object.

1.6.3.7 No Operation (One Byte)

The No Operation (One Byte) object is used to fill gaps between objectsthat are too small for a full object structure. These objects are onlyone byte long in total.

1.7 Reader Protocol

The reader 300 uses a datagram protocol that supports bothunidirectional and bi-directional communication between the reader 300and the set top box 601 or computer 700, for example. The format usedfor messages from the reader 300 as a result of user interactions withthe smart card 100 are of a different format than those that are sent tothe reader 300.

1.7.1 Message Types

There are at least seven message event types that can be sent by thereader 300. These message events are as follows:

(i) INSERT: When a smart card 100 is inserted into the reader 300, andthe smart card 100 is validated, an INSERT event is generated by thereader 300 and an associated message is transmitted. This messageannounces the smart card 100 to a remote module (e.g. the set top box601). The INSERT message preferably can include the particular cardidentifier and allow applications to be started or fetched immediatelyupon the smart card 100 insertion rather than waiting until the firstinteraction takes place. The INSERT message preferably includes thecontents of the card data object from the smart card 100 inserted intothe reader 300 if an object of this type is present on the smart card100.

(ii) REMOVE: When a smart card 100 is removed from the reader 300, acorresponding REMOVE event is generated and a REMOVE message is sent tothe particular remote module associated with the reader 300. Like theINSERT message, the associated card identifier can be transmitted alongwith the message. As the card identifier cannot be read from the nowremoved smart card 100, the card identifier is stored in the memory 1047of the reader 300. This is a useful optimisation as the card identifieris required for all other messages and reading the card identifier fromthe smart card 100 each time the card identifier is required can be tooslow. INSERT and REMOVE messages are not relied upon by the system 600to control processing. The system 600 is configured to infer missingmessages if a message is received and is not immediately expected. Forexample, if an application detects two INSERT messages in a row, then anapplication can assume that it has missed the REMOVE message associatedwith the smart card 100 of the first INSERT message, as typically twosmart cards 100 are not inserted into the reader 300 at one time. Theapplication can then take whatever action is required prior toprocessing the second INSERT message.

Another example of where a missing message can occur is where ahand-held, infrared connected reader 300 as shown in FIG. 6(b), ascompared with a wired reader 300 as shown in FIG. 6(a), is being used.Often a user does not point the reader 300 directly at a remote modulewhen inserting or removing cards. This problem can be corrected by thesystem 600 inferring the INSERT or REMOVE operations based on differingcard identifiers in consecutive PRESS and RELEASE pairs.

(iii) BAD CARD: If an invalid smart card 100 is inserted, then thereader 300 is preferably configured to generate a BAD CARD event and tosend a BAD CARD message. This message allows an associated remote moduleto take some action to alert the user to the invalid smart card 100.

(iv) PRESS: When a touch is detected by the reader 300, a PRESS event isgenerated and a PRESS message is sent to an associated remote module.The PRESS message can contain details of an associated memory card, theposition of the press and the data associated with the user-interfaceelement at that particular position. If there is no user interfaceelement defined for that position (including if there is no userinterface element defined on the smart card 100 at all) a PRESS messageis sent containing details of the associated smart card 100 and theposition of the press. If there is no card present in the reader 300when a PRESS event is generated then a PRESS message is sent containingthe special “NO_CARD” identifier (i.e. eight bytes of zero—0x00) and theposition of the press.

(v) RELEASE: A RELEASE event complements the PRESS event and a RELEASEmessage can be sent in order to inform an application program of thesystem 600 that a PRESS has been lifted. Every PRESS event preferablyhas a corresponding RELEASE event. Readers can allow multiple presses tobe registered or provide other events that may occur between PRESS andRELEASE messages.

(vi) MOVE: If, after processing a PRESS event, the touch positionchanges by a certain amount then the finger (or whatever is being usedto touch the smart card 100) is assumed to be moving. MOVE EVENTS aregenerated and MOVE messages are sent until the touch is lifted. MOVEevents auto-repeat by re-sending the last MOVE messages when the touchposition remains stationary. The repeated sending finishes when thetouch is lifted and a corresponding RELEASE message is sent. UnlikePRESS and RELEASE events there is no user-interface object involved withMOVE events.

(vii) LOW BATT: A LOW BATT event is generated and a LOW BATT message issent when the battery 1053 in the reader 300 is getting low. Thismessage is sent after user interactions to increase the chance that themessage will be received by the rest of the system 600. The sending ofthe LOW BATT message does not prevent the reader 300 from entering a lowpower state.

As described above, the card identifier is included in every INSERT,REMOVE, PRESS, RELEASE and MOVE message sent from the reader 300 to thecomputer 100 or set-top box 601. As an alternative, the card identifiercan be sent in connection with an INSERT message only. In this instance,upon insertion of a new smart card 100, the reader 300 generates asession identifier. The session identifier is configured to identify acurrent session of a card insertion. The session identifier, forexample, can be a pseudo-random number represented with two bytes ofdata or the session identifier can be a number that is incremented eachtime a smart card 100 is inserted and reset to zero when a predeterminedvalue is reached. In this case, the reader 300 sends an INSERT messageto the computer 700 or the set-top box 601, which includes a cardidentifier as previously described above and a session identifier whichis generated for each new smart card 100 insertion. All subsequentPRESS, RELEASE and MOVE messages need not include the card identifierbut will include the session identifier and user interface elementobject data or press coordinates previously described.

When using a session identifier, the system 600 operates as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), except that the eventmanager 901, upon receiving an INSERT message from the reader 300,stores the session identifier as the current session identifier and acard identifier as the current card identifier. When the event manager901 receives a PRESS, RELEASE or MOVE message, the event manager 901checks that the session identifier is equal to the current sessionidentifier. If so, the event manager 901 sets a card identifier used inall messages to the current card identifier. Otherwise, if the sessionidentifier is not equal to the current session identifier, the eventmanager 901 informs the user, via the display manager 306, and thedisplay device 101, that a message has been received without acorresponding INSERT message. The user, for example, is then requestedto remove and reinsert the card 100.

1.7.2 Data Formats

The data format of the reader 300 protocol used in the system 600 is afixed size header followed by a variable length data field which can bezero bytes or more in length, followed by an eight bit check-sum andcomplement.

1.7.3 Message Header

The message header is preferably of a fixed length and is prepended to(i.e. appended to, but in front of) all messages sent from the reader300 to a set top box 601 for example. It is necessary to keep themessage header as small as possible due to any bandwidth restrictionsthat may be imposed. Table 9 below shows the format of the messageheader that is sent from a reader 300 to a remote module such as the settop-box 601 for example. The service and service-specific identifier arethe same for a given smart card 100. A service specific identifier ispreferably set by a vendor for use with their application. The readeridentifier (ID) of Table 9 is also in the header of each message. Thereader identifier can be used by an application 304 to distinguishdifferent users, for example, in a multi-player game application.

TABLE 9 Field Description (Message Header Format) Bytes PreamblePreamble to the message. Value is always 0xAA 2 0x55 (bit sequence10101010 01010101). This is to make it easier for the event manager 901to find the beginning of a message. Version The version of the userinterface card infrared 1 message protocol this messages uses. Thisversion of the protocol is version 1 (0x01 in the version field) TypeType of message. This is one of the values given in 1 Table 10. ReaderID The 16 bit id of the reader that sent the message. 2 This number is apseudorandom generated number that is changed when the battery isreplaced in the reader. This is needed to distinguish readers whenmultiple readers are being used with applications. Service Serviceidentifier as stored on the card. 5 Service- Service-specific identifieras stored on the card. 3 specific

Table 10 shows a table listing the message event types that have beendescribed above.

TABLE 10 Name Description (Message Type Codes) Code INSERT A card hasbeen inserted into the reader. ‘I’ REMOVE The card has been removed fromthe reader. ‘E’ PRESS The touch panel has been pressed. ‘P’ RELEASE Thepress on the touch panel has been released. ‘R’ MOVE The press positionhas moved but the press has ‘M’ not been released. BADCARD A card hasbeen inserted however it has not ‘B’ passed validation. LOW_BATT Thebattery in the reader is getting flat. ‘L’1.7.3.1 Simple Messages

A number of message types are considered simple in that they consistsolely of the message header described above followed by the messagechecksum byte and its complement. For example, a BADCARD message, aLOW_BATT message and a REMOVE message are simple messages. Table 11shows the format of a simple message.

TABLE 11 Field Description (Simple Message Format) Bytes Header Messageheader as defined in Table 9. 14 Checksum Message checksum. This is thesum of all the bytes 1 in the message. Checksum' The 1's complement ofthe checksum. 11.7.3.2 MOVE Messages

MOVE messages are formed of the message header described above followedby two fields defining the coordinates of the touch position on thetouch panel 8 of the reader 300. Table 12 shows the format of a MOVEmessage.

TABLE 12 Field Description (Move Message Format) Bytes Header Messageheader as defined in Table 9. 14 X The X co-ordinate of the touchposition. 1 Y The Y co-ordinate of the touch position. 1 ChecksumMessage checksum. This is the sum of all the bytes 1 in the message.Checksum' The 1's complement of the checksum. 11.7.3.3 PRESS and RELEASE Messages

Table 13 below shows the format of PRESS and RELEASE messages. PRESS andRELEASE messages, like MOVE messages contain the message header andtouch coordinates. In addition, PRESS and RELEASE messages send dataassociated with a user-interface element if the touch position matches auser-interface element object defined on the smart card 100. This datais of variable length, the actual size being defined by a correspondingsmart card 100. If the touched position does not match a user-interfaceelement object defined on the smart card 100 (including if nouser-interface elements are defined on the smart card 100), zero bytesof data associated with user interface elements are sent. If there is nosmart card 100 in the reader 300 then the service identifiers are allset to zero (ie 0x00) and zero bytes of data associated with theuser-interface elements are transmitted to the remote module. The dataassociated with the user interface element normally corresponds to thedata associated with the user interface element defined on the smartcard 100 but may be modified or generated by processing on the smartcard 100 or reader 300.

TABLE 13 Field Description (Press and Release Message Format) BytesHeader Message header as defined by Table 9. 14  X The X co-ordinate ofthe touch position. 1 Y The Y co-ordinate of the touch position. 1Length The number of bytes of data. Can be zero. 2 Data The dataassociated with the user interface Length element. Checksum Messagechecksum. This is the sum of all the 1 bytes in the message. Checksum'The 1's complement of the checksum. 11.7.7 INSERT Messages

INSERT messages are formed of the message header described above and thecontents of the card data object from an inserted smart card 100. Table14 below shows the format of an INSERT message.

TABLE 14 Field Description (INSERT Message Format) Bytes Header Messageheader as defined in Table 9. 14  Length The number of bytes of data.Can be zero. 2 Data The data from a Card Data object on the card. LengthChecksum Message checksum. This is the sum of all the 1 bytes in themessage. Checksum' The 1's complement of the checksum. 1

FIG. 13 is a data flow diagram showing the flow of the above-describedmessages within the system 600 for a smart card 100. As seen in FIG. 27,the card header 1100 and object structure 1213 are read by the CPU 1045of the reader 300 which sends a corresponding INSERT, REMOVE, PRESS,RELEASE, MOVE, BADCARD or LOW BAT message to the event manager 901 viathe I/O daemon 920. The event manager 901 can have up to twenty-one coremessages, which are sent to and received from the master launcher 902,launcher 903 and applications 904.

1.8 Example

The operation of the system 600 will now be further explained withreference to the following example. The system 600 is customisable byvirtue of a user being able to utilise a number of different smart cards100 to perform corresponding different operations. For example, withparticular reference to the system 600B, FIG. 14(a) shows a memory card100C which according to the user interface elements 1414 printed thereonis configured for the retrieval of on-line music associated with anInternet site entitled “Blues Guitar Masters”. The on-line music can beaccessed over the system 600B using the memory card 100C and thenpurchased using a CPU card 100D configured for use with an electronicbanking application, as will be explained below with reference to FIGS.15(a) and 15(b). Alternatively, other functions may be performed on thesystem 600B, using different smart cards 100, such as home shopping,ordering home delivery fast food such a pizzas, and the like. In eachinstance, insertion of an appropriate smart card 100 into the reader 300causes a corresponding computer application to commence operation,either within the set-top box 601 or the computer system 700, in orderto service user commands entered via the reader 300 and to returnappropriate information for audio-visual feedback to the user.

For the memory card 100C, on-line music is provided as data to theset-top box 601 which permits reproduction of audio and any relatedvisual images on the output device 616 or the display 701 of thecomputer system 700. The user interface elements 1414 of the memory card100C are in the form of a “play button” 1401, a “rewind button” 1403, a“fast forward button” 1405, a “stop button” 1407, a “select button”1409, a “record button” 1411 and a two-way directional controller 1413,printed on a front face 1416 of the memory card 100C.

FIG. 14(b) is a table showing user interface element objects (e.g. 1431)associated with each of the user interface elements 1401 to 1417. Theuser interface element objects (e.g. 1431) are stored in a memory (notshown) formed within the memory card 100C similar to the memory 219 ofthe memory card 100A. As described above with reference to Table 6 andas shown in FIG. 14(b), each of the user interface element objects (e.g.1431) has six fields being a flags field 1420, an X1 field 1421, a Y1field 1422, an X2 field 1423, a Y2 field 1424 and a data field 1425,describing the position of and data associated with a corresponding userinterface element. For example, the flags field 1420 for the selectbutton 1409 is a one byte field set to a hexadecimal value of ‘0x020’(0x representing hexadecimal notation), indicating that data associatedwith the select button 1409 is not to be sent in a release event, asdescribed above with reference to Table 7. The X1 field 1421 associatedwith the select button 1409 is a one byte field set to a value of ‘0007’indicating the coordinate value of the bottom left hand point 1431 ofthe user interface element 1409 with respect to the top left point 1433of the memory card 100C, as described above with reference to Table 6.The data field 1425 is a variable size field which in the case of theselect button 1409 is a value corresponding to an ‘Enter’ and/or‘Carriage Return’ function.

The memory card 100C also includes a card data object as described abovewith reference to Table 5. The card data object contains data thatrelates specifically to a particular smart card 100 and is normally sentas part of an INSERT message, upon the smart card 100 being insertedinto the reader 300. In the case of the memory card 100C, the card dataobject indicates a URL, ‘www.bluesguitarmasters.com’, corresponding tothe address of the ‘Blues Guitar Masters’ Internet site. A personskilled in the relevant art would appreciate that the URL is stored inthe memory of the memory card 100C in a digital format corresponding tothe American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) values ofthe characters making up the URL. Alternatively, a card identifier canbe stored in the memory of the memory card 100C and can be mapped to theURL by the directory service 911.

The memory card 100C also includes a card identifier, as described withreference to Table 1, stored in the memory of the memory card 100C. Thecard identifier includes a service identifier which in the case of thememory card 100C can be mapped to the URL, ‘www.bluesguitarmasters.com’,corresponding to the address of the ‘Blues Guitar Masters’ Internet siteby the directory service 911. The card identifier also includes aservice-specific identifier which in this case is a three-byte vendoridentifier related to the vendor of the Blues Guitar Masters Internetsite. The service-specific identifier can be assigned by the provider ofthe service (e.g. the vendor of the Blues Guitar Masters Internet site),and can be equal to any particular three-byte value. Each card 100associated with the ‘Blues Guitar Masters’ Internet site, for example,can have a different service-specific identifier.

For the CPU card 100D, the user interface elements 1514 are in the formof a numerical keypad 1560, an “OK button” 1562, a “cancel button” 1564,a “clear button” 1566, a “backspace button” 1568, and a four waydirectional controller 1570 printed on the front face 1556 thereof.

Similar to the memory card 100C, each of the user interface elements1514 of the CPU card 100D has at least one associated user interfaceelement object (e.g. 1531) stored in a storage means (not shown) formedwithin the CPU card 100D similar to the storage means 276 of the CPUcard 100B. Again, as described above with reference to Table 6 and asshown in FIG. 15(b), each of the user interface element objects (e.g.1531) has six fields being a flags field 1520, an X1 field 1521, a Y1field 1522, an X2 field 1523, a Y2 field 1524 and a data field 1525,describing the position of and data associated with a corresponding userinterface element. For example, the X1 field 1521 associated with the“number 2 button” 1540 of the numerical keypad 1560, is a one byte fieldset to a value of “0005” indicating the coordinate value of the bottomleft hand point 1541 of the user interface element 1540 with respect tothe top left point 1533 of the CPU card 100D. The data field 1525 of the“number 2 button” 1540 is a variable size field which in the case of theCPU card 100D value corresponds to a hexadecimal representationcorresponding to the ASCII value of the character ‘2’.

The CPU card 100D also includes a card data object, as described abovewith reference to Table 5. In the case of the CPU card 100D, the carddata object indicates a URL (e.g. www.anz.com), corresponding to theaddress of an electronic banking Internet page. A person skilled in therelevant art would appreciate that the URL is stored in the storagemeans of the CPU card 100D in a digital format corresponding to theASCII values of the characters making up the URL.

Similar to the memory card 100C, the CPU card 100D also includes a cardidentifier, as described with reference to a Table 1 stored in thestorage means of the CPU card 100D. The card identifier includes aservice identifier, which in the case of the CPU card 100D can be mappedto the URL corresponding to the electronic banking application (e.g.www.anz.com). The card identifier also includes a service-specificidentifier, which in this case is a three-byte vendor identifier. Theservice-specific identifier can be related to the vendor of theelectronic banking package (e.g. the Australia New Zealand Banking GroupLimited). Again, each CPU card 100B associated with the electronicbanking package, for example, can have a different service-specificidentifier.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing the steps 1600 performed by a user inorder to retrieve on-line music associated with the Blues Guitar MastersInternet site, over the card interface system 600B. At the initial step1601, the user inserts the memory card 100C into the reader 300. As willbe explained in further detail later in this document, having insertedthe memory card 100C into the reader 300, an application associated withthe Blues Guitar Masters Internet page commences, for example on theserver computer 650, and returns to the set-top box 601 for display onthe output device 616 a first menu screen 1720, as seen in FIG. 17(a),relating to a function to be performed, in this case a selection ofBlues Guitar Masters. Then at the next step 1603, using the reader 300to select the two-way directional controller 1413, the user scrollsthrough the various offerings to make a desired selection, in this casefor an artist called Young Dead Guy. In response to the user'sselection, a further menu screen 1722, as seen in FIG. 17(b), is thendisplayed on the output device 616 advising the user of the possibleselections that may be made. At the next step 1605, the user scrolls themenu screen 1722 by selecting the two-way directional controller 1413,and makes a further desired selection. In response to the user'sselection at step 1605, a further menu screen 1724 is then displayed onthe output device 616 as seen in FIG. 17(c) advising the user of thefurther possible selections that may be made. In accordance with thisexample, the user can access a free sample video clip or a full concertmusic video corresponding to the selection at step 1605, depending onthe ‘Quality of Service’ that the user wishes to access from the BluesGuitar Masters Internet site. For example, if the user only wishes toaccess a one-minute free sample of the video clip corresponding to theselection at step 1605, then the user can select the ‘Free Sample’ item1726 on the menu screen 1724. Otherwise, the user can select the ‘FullConcert Video’ item 1728 which will require the user to pay someassociated fee for service. At the next step 1607, the user selects the‘Full Concert Video’ item 1728. In response to the user's selection atstep 1607, a further screen 1730 is then displayed on the output device616 as seen in FIG. 17(d) advising the user to insert a payment card(e.g. the CPU card 100D) into the reader 300. The screen 1730 alsoadvises the user of the fee amount and of a ‘Biller Code’ associatedwith the vendor of the Blues Guitar Masters Internet site. At the nextstep 1609, the user removes the memory card 100C and inserts the CPUcard 100D into the reader 300. In accordance with the present example,at the next step 1611, the user presses one or more user interfaceelements 154 representing a personal identification number (PIN) byapplying pressure to the touch panel 308 on or adjacent to each of theassociated user interface elements 154. As will be explained in furtherdetail later in this document, in response to the user entering thepersonal identification number, the CPU card 100D can buffer thepersonal identification number in an input buffer and compare thebuffered personal identification number to a personal identificationnumber stored in a storage means (not shown) of the CPU card 100D. Ifthe CPU card 100D determines that the entered personal identificationnumber is identical to the stored personal identification number then anapplication associated with the banking application Internet sitecommences, for example on the server computer 652, and returns to theset-top box 601 for display on the output device 616 a conventionalbanking application menu screen relating to a function to be performed,in this case a selection enabling the payment of the specified amount tothe vendor identified by the displayed biller code. At the next step1613, the user utilises the user interface elements 1514 of the CPU card100D to operate the banking application in order to complete payment forthe full concert music video of the young dead guy. Once payment iscompleted, the Blues Guitar Masters application then retrieves theselection (i.e. the full concert music video of the Young Dead Guy),which is then streamed to the set-top box 616 for appropriate output asseen in FIG. 17(e). Since the music video is, in effect, a series of“live” images, as compared to the substantially static images of themenu screens 1720, 1722 1724 and 1730, the music video mayadvantageously be obtained and/or streamed from another location on thecomputer network 720 not associated with the generation of the menuscreens 1720, 1722, 1724 and 1730.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram showing a method 1800 performed by the reader300 for checking the memory card 100A upon the user inserting the memorycard 100A into the reader 300 at step 1601 of the process 1600. Themethod 1800 is also performed by the reader 300 at step 1609 in order tocheck the CPU card 100D. The method 1800 checks for changes in thepresence and validity of a smart card in the remote reader 300 andresponds accordingly. The method 1800 is performed by the CPU 1045 andbegins at step 1801 where if the memory card 100C is inserted into thereader 300, then the method 1800 proceeds to step 1802. At step 1802, ifthe inserted memory card 100A is a new card (i.e. in the previous statethere was no smart card 100 in the reader 300), then the method 1800proceeds to step 1803. Otherwise, the method 1800 concludes. At the nextstep 1803, “magic number” and “checksum” fields are read from a cardheader stored in the memory of the card 100A by the CPU 1045, and arechecked for correctness. If the “magic number” and “checksum” arecorrect, then the method 1800 proceeds to step 1804. In the case of theCPU card 100B, the CPU 1045 only reads the magic number field as thereader 300 is not able to read the data stored on the CPU card 100B. Themethod 1800 continues at step 1804, where the card identifier is readfrom the card header and “Move events”, “Don't Report Co-ordinates” and“Beep” flags are set by the CPU 1045. The card data associated with thememory card 100C is also read from the memory card 100C at this step1804. At the next step 1805, an INSERT message, including the card data,is sent to set top box 601 by the CPU 1045, and the INSERT message isprocessed by the CPU 805. Then at step 1806, a “BEEP” is sounded and themethod 1800 concludes.

If the “magic number” and “checksum” fields are not correct (ie: thememory card 100C is not valid) at step 1803, then the method 1800proceeds to step 1810 where the don't beep, no move events and eventco-ordinate flags are set. At the next step 1811, a BAD CARD message issent to the set top box 601 by the CPU 1045, and the BAD CARD message isprocessed by the CPU 805 resulting in display of such a message on theoutput device 616. Then at step 1812, a “BOOP” is sounded and the method1800 concludes.

If the memory card 100C is not inserted into the reader 300 at step1801, then the method 1800 proceeds to step 1807. At step 1807, if thisis the first operation of the reader 300 after the reset then the method1800 concludes. Otherwise, the method 1800 proceeds to step 1808 wherethe “Beep”, “No MoveEvents” and “No Event Co-ordinates” flags are set todefault values by the CPU 1045 and the card identifier stored in memoryof the memory card 100C is set to “NO_CARD”. At the next step 1809, aREMOVE message is sent to the set top box 601 by the CPU 1045, and theREMOVE message is processed by the CPU 805. The method 1800 concludesafter step 1809.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram showing a method 1900 of scanning the touchpanel 308 of the reader 300 of the system 600B incorporating thesoftware architecture 900. The method 1900 is typically executed by theCPU 1045 at steps 1603, 1605 and 1607 of the process of FIG. 16 as theuser scrolls the menu screens (e.g. 1720) by selecting the userinterface elements 1514. The method 1900 checks for touch panel touchesthat equate with user interface element 1514 selections and respondsaccordingly. The method begins at step 1901 where if the touch panel 308is being touched, then the method 1900 proceeds to step 1902. Otherwise,the method 1900 proceeds to step 1912, where if the touch panel 308 hasbeen touched previously then the method 1900 proceeds to step 1913.Otherwise, the method 1900 concludes.

At step 1913, the “beep”, “move events” and “no event co-ordinate” flagsare set according to their corresponding values in the associated cardheader if a card is present. If a card is not present in the reader 300then these flags are set to default values. Then at step 1914, themessage type is set to RELEASE and the method 1900 proceeds to step1905.

The method 1900 continues at step 802, where if this is the first timethat a touch has been noticed since there was no touch, then the method1900 proceeds to step 1903. At the next step 1903, the CPU 1045determines if a bad card has been inserted into the reader 300 bychecking the result of step 1803, then in the case that a bad card hasbeen inserted into the reader 300, the method 1900 proceeds to step1915. Then at step 1915, a BAD Card message is sent to the set top box601, the BAD CARD message is stored in memory 806, and the method 1900concludes. If it was determined at step 1903 that the memory card 100Cwas valid, by checking the result of step 703, or that no card wasinserted into the reader 300, by the checking of step 1801, then themethod 1900 proceeds to step 1904, where the type of message is set toPRESS in the message header of Table 9. At the next step 1905, the CPU1045 determines the touch coordinates (i.e. X, Y coordinates of userpress location) via the touch panel interface 1041. Then at the nextstep 1906, the offset and scale functions are applied to the coordinatesby the CPU 1045. The offset and scale functions map the coordinate spaceof the touch panel 308 to the coordinate space of the card 100C. Themethod 1900 continues at the next step 1907, where if the CPU 1045determines that the sent message was a MOVE and/or no card was insertedinto the reader 300, by checking step 1801, then the method 1900proceeds directly to step 1909. Otherwise, the method 1900 proceeds tostep 1908 and the memory of the memory card 100C is searched by the CPU1045 in order to find the first user interface element whose X1, Y1, X2,Y2 values form a range within which the touch coordinates fall and dataassociated with matched user interface element is read from the memorycard 100A. At the step 1909, the message is sent along with any data tothe set top box 601, and the CPU 805 processes the message. The method1900 continues at the next step 1911, where a BEEP sound is sounded andthe method 1900 concludes.

If this is not the first time that a touch has been noticed since therewas no touch, at step 1902, then the method 1900 proceeds to step 1916.At step 1916, if the touch detected at step 1901 was a move, then themethod 1900 proceeds to step 1917. Otherwise the method 1900 concludes.At step 1917, the message type is set to MOVE and the method 1900proceeds to step 1905. For example, a MOVE message can be sent alongwith the X, Y coordinates of a touch position as defined by Tables. 12and 15, a PRESS and RELEASE message can be sent along with X, Ycoordinates of a touch position and data associated with a userinterface object as defined by Tables. 12 and 16. If it was determinedat step 1907 that the message was a MOVE, at step 1909, then the CPU1045 sends a MOVE message to the set top box 601. The CPU 805 of the settop box 601 processes the X, Y coordinates as cursor informationresulting in a cursor move that is displayed on the output device 616.In this case, the next RELEASE message can be interpreted as a commandto select the displayed object at the cursor position (e.g. to select anicon 1716 of the menu screen 1724). Further, if NO Event Coordinates(see Table 2) have been set in the memory card 100C, then the reader 300may send the data associated with a user interface object to the eventmanager 301 in the computer 700 or set top box 601 without sending theX, Y coordinates of the touch position.

The method 1900 can be similarly performed at steps 1611 and 1613 forthe CPU card 100D. However, in the case of the CPU card 100D, themapping of the offset and scale functions to the coordinate space of thetouch panel 308 of the card 100D at step 1906 and the searching of theCPU card 100D at step 1908, is performed by the CPU (not shown) of theCPU card 100D. The operation of the CPU cards 100B and 100D in thisregard will be described in more detail later in this document.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram showing a process 2000 of events performed bythe system 600B incorporating the software architecture 900. The process2000, is executed by the CPU 705, depending on the configuration of thesystem 600, upon the user inserting the memory card 100C into the reader300 at step 1601. The process 2000 begins at step 2001 where a systeminitialisation process is performed to start the event manager 901. Atstep 2001 the I/O daemon 920 is typically also started along with theevent manager 901.

At the next step 2002, the event manager 901 starts the launcher 903.Then at the step 2003, the event manager 901 passes a message to thelauncher 903, enabling the launcher 903 to determine which application904 to execute, and the launcher 903 then starts the correspondingapplication 904. In the case of the memory card 100C, the correspondingapplication 904 is an application associated with the Blues GuitarMasters Internet site. The process 2000 continues at the next step 2004,where once the currently running application 904 is no longer needed(e.g. whilst the Blues Guitar Masters application selection is beingstreamed to the set-top box 616 from another location on the computernetwork 720 not associated with the generation of the menu screens 1720,1722, 1724 and 1730 or when the CPU card 100D is inserted into thereader 300 at step 1609), the launcher 903 provides an exit message tothe running application (i.e. the application associated with the BluesGuitar Masters Internet site) in order to end the execution of therunning application. All applications are terminated when the system600B is powered down or switched off.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram showing a method 2100 of receiving an eventperformed by the event manager 901, at step 2001. The method 2100 can beexecuted by the CPU 705 for computer implementations. Alternatively, themethod 2100 can be executed by the CPU 805 in set top boximplementations. The method 2100 begins at step 2101, where the launcher903 is started. At the next step 2103, the event manager 901 receives anevent. If the event received at step 2103 is not from the reader 300 atthe next step 2105, then the method 2100 proceeds to step 2107 where acomponent identifier (XID) associated with the received event is checkedand corrected if necessary. The method 2100 continues at the next step2109, where if the new application sending an event is allowed to sendthe event, then the method 2100 proceeds to step 2111. At step 2111, theevent is sent to a destination process component and the method 2100returns to step 2103. If the sending application is not allowed to sendthe event at step 2109, then the method 2100 proceeds to step 2113,where the event is dropped and the method 2100 returns to step 2103.

If the event is from the reader 300 at step 2105, then the method 2100proceeds to step 2115. If the event is a BADCARD, LOWBAT, INSERT orREMOVE event at step 2115 then the method 2100 proceeds to step 2117.Otherwise the method 2100 proceeds to step 2119. At step 2117, the eventis passed to the launcher 903 and the method 2100 returns to step 2103.If the card identifier is the NO_CARD identifier at step 2119, then thecorresponding message is passed to the launcher 903 at step 2117.Otherwise the method 2100 proceeds to step 2121, where the serviceidentifier portion of the card identifier is compared with the serviceidentifier used in determining the current front application (i.e. theapplication to receive messages from the event manager). If the serviceidentifier is not the same as that which has been used to determine thefront application, then the method 2100 proceeds to step 2117 where thismessage is passed to the launcher 903. Otherwise, the method 2100proceeds to step 2123, where the event is sent to the front applicationand the method 2100 returns to step 2103.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram, showing an overview of the method 2200performed by the launcher 903 during steps 2002 to 2004 of the process2000. The method 3700 can be executed by the CPU 705 for computerimplementations. Alternatively, the method 2200 can be executed by theCPU 4305 in set top box implementations or by the CPU of a remoteserver. The method 2200 begins at the first step 2201, where thelauncher 903 connects to the event manager 901, and then continues to anext step 2202 where persistent applications (i.e. applications such asbrowser controllers that will generally always be running while thesystem 600 is operating) are started. At the next step 2203, thelauncher 903 waits for an event and when an event is received thelauncher 903 proceeds to step 2205. If the event is the NO_CARDidentifier at step 2205, then the process proceeds to step 2207.Otherwise the method 2200 proceeds to step 2209. At step 2207, thelauncher 903 performs a predetermined system specific function (e.g.displays a message on the output device 616) in response to the NO_CARDidentifier and the method 2200 returns to step 2203.

If the event at decision step 2205 is determined not to be a NO_CARDidentifier, another decision step 2209 is entered to determine whetheror not the event is a PRESS, RELEASE, REMOVE, MOVE or INSERT. If thisdecision step 2209 returns a “yes”, that is, the event is one of theaforementioned events, then the method 2200 proceeds to step 2227.Otherwise the method 2200 proceeds to a further decision step 2213. Atstep 2227, the launcher 903 changes the application and the method 2200returns to step 2203. A REMOVE event followed by an INSERT event wouldoccur at step 1609 of the process 1600 when the user removes the memorycard 100C from the reader 300 and inserts the CPU card 100D. The INSERTevent results in the reader 300 sending an INSERT message containing theURL of the banking application to the CPU 805 of the set top box 601which passes the URL to a server (e.g. the server computer 652)associated with the banking application.

If the event at step 2209 is not one of the PRESS, RELEASE, REMOVE, MOVEor INSERT events, then a decision step 2213 is entered. This decisionstep 2213 makes a determination on a BADCARD or LOW_BATT event. If theevent is a BADCARD or LOW_BATT event at step 2213, then the method 2200proceeds to step 2215, otherwise the method 2200 proceeds to step 2217.At step 2215, the launcher 903 gives the user feedback on the event thathas occurred (e.g. displaying a “Low Battery” message on the outputdevice 616 if the LOW_BATT event is determined or a “Incorrect Card”upon determination of a BADCARD event) and the method 2200 returns tostep 2203. If the event at decision step 2213 is neither a BADCARD orLOW_BATT event, then step 2217 is entered.

If the event is an APP_REGISTER event at step 2217, then the method 2200proceeds to step 2229, application registering. Otherwise the method2200 proceeds to step 2225. At step 2229, the application is registered(i.e. the application informs the other components 901, 902 and 906 thatit is now ready to receive messages) and the method 2200 returns to step2203. At step 2225, the event is discarded and the method 2200 returnsto step 2203.

2.0 CPU Card Operation

The operation of the CPU cards described above will be discussed belowwith reference to the CPU card 100B. However, a person skilled in therelevant art would appreciate that the following description appliesequally to the CPU card 100D.

The CPU card 100B has several advantages over the memory card 100A andover other conventional memory card or user interface card platforms.Firstly, a personal identification number (PIN) and other data may bekept secure by ensuring that all coordinate translation from the reader300, in regard to a user selecting one or more of the user interfaceelements 154, is executed by the CPU 259 of the CPU card 100B, thusproviding some protection against discovery and copying of the datastored on the card 100B. In order to provide such security, the userinterface element objects (see Table 5) are stored in the storage means276 of the CPU card 100B. The CPU card 100B can protect the data storedin the storage means 276 by read/write protecting the storage means 276.Secondly, data returned by the CPU card 100B can be the result of atransformation executed by the CPU 275 and applied to a certain sequenceof user interface elements 154 being selected. The CPU card 100B canitself store the sequence in the storage means 276 and release thenecessary data only after the card 100B has detected that a validsequence has been selected. For example, entry of a personalidentification number by a user can be used to authenticate a user ofthe card 100B, prior to which other features provided by the CPU card100B are locked out.

A third advantage of the CPU card 100B over the memory card 100A, andover other conventional memory cards and user interface card platforms,is that the CPU card 100B can offer secure connection between the CPUcard 100B and a remote application executing on the computer system 600or remote server computers 650, 652. The CPU card 100B can be configuredwith cryptographic functions together with a Public Key Infrastructure(PKI) to establish a secure communications channel between the CPU card100B and a remote application, even when working with an unsecuredreader 300.

Still another advantage of the CPU card 100B is that the CPU card 100Bcan be loaded with several different application programs, which caninteract with one another. For example, card resident applications, suchas secure online payment applications, can provide additionalfunctionality to the standard user interface card application describedbelow, allowing data generated by these applications to be associatedwith user interface elements.

2.1 Communications

The CPU card 100B preferably communicates with the reader 300 using the“T=0” protocol as defined in the “International Standards Organisation(ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 7816-3: 1997Standards, Part 3: Electronic Signals and Transmission Protocol”,[hereinafter referred to as the ‘ISO 7816-3 standards’]. However, anyother suitable bi-directional protocol (e.g. T=1) can be used forcommunications between the CPU card 100B and the reader 300. As will bedescribed in detail below, the reader 300 issues different commands tothe CPU card 100B depending on a user interface element 154 selected bythe user. All commands issued to the CPU card 100B by the reader 300 arein an ‘Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU)” format as described in the“ISO/IEC 7816-4 Standards, Part 4: Electronic Signals and TransmissionProtocol” [hereinafter referred to as the ‘ISO 7816-4 standards’]. Theformat and fields of the commands issued to the CPU card 100B will bedescribed in detail below.

2.2 Operating System

The CPU card 100B is configured to utilise any generic multi-applicationoperating platform such as the ‘Multos’ operating system or ‘JavaCard’.However, the CPU card 100B can also utilise a single applicationoperating platform.

2.3 Operating Procedure

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram showing a method 2300 of operating the CPUcard 100B using the reader 300. The method 2300 is implemented assoftware, such as an application program executing within the CPU 1045of the reader 300 and being stored in the memory 1046. In particular,the steps of the method 2300 are effected by instructions in thesoftware that are carried out by the CPU 1045. The underlined text inthe flow diagram of FIG. 23 indicate steps of the method 2300 whichrequire a command (typically invoked by the reader 300) to be issued tosoftware stored in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B and beingexecuted by the CPU 275. For example, at step 2313 the CPU 1045 of thereader 300 sends an (X, Y) position coordinate pair associated with auser interface element 154 selection to the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100Bfor processing, using a PROCESS COORD command, as will be explained inmore detail below. As described above, commands are configured asapplication protocol data units (APDU) having a format as described inthe ISO 7816-4 standard. However, any other suitable existing or customprotocol can be used.

The software executing on the CPU card 100B may be divided into twoseparate parts being an operating system and an application program. Theoperating system (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Card OperatingSystem’) is configured to manage the interface between an ‘application’program and the reader 300, where the card operating system forms theplatform for the execution of applications on the CPU card 100B. Theapplication program provides user interface functions of the CPU card100B. The dashed line 2302 in FIG. 23 indicates steps (i.e. steps 2305to 2317) in which the application program is active. The applicationprogram will be hereinafter referred to as the ‘User Interface CardResident Application’.

As described above, user interface element objects as described herein,represent mapping data, which relate the user interface elements 154directly imprinted on a surface of the CPU smart card 100B, to commandsor addresses (eg: Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)). Mapping dataincludes (X,Y) coordinate pairs which typically define the size andlocation of user interface elements 154 on the CPU card 100B, asdescribed above for the memory card 100A. The user interface elementobjects are stored in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B and arenot able to be accessed by the reader 300.

The method 2300 begins at step 2301 where the CPU card 100B is poweredup. The CPU card 100B can be powered up automatically upon beinginserted into the reader 300 by a user or after a user touches the touchpanel 308. At the next step 2303, the user interface card residentapplication, stored in the storage means 276, is selected by theoperating system executing within the CPU 275 upon the operating systemreceiving a command from the CPU 1045 of the reader 300. According tothe ISO 7816-4 standard, CPU card application programs are selected by aSELECT FILE command. The format of the SELECT FILE command sent by theCPU 1045 of the reader 300 to the CPU card 100B is shown in Table 15below.

TABLE 15 Field Value CLA (Class) 0x00 INS (Instruction) 0xA4 P1(Parameter 1) 0x04 P2 (Parameter 2) 0x0C Lc (Command Data Length) Lengthof user interface card resident application identifier Data (CommandData) User interface card resident application identifier Le (ResponseData Length) 0

The SELECT FILE command can result in further commands sent by thereader 300 being re-directed to the user interface card residentapplication rather than the operating system. The SELECT FILE commandwill fail if the user interface card resident application does not existin the storage means 276 on the CPU card 100B or cannot be selected foranother reason. The process performed by the CPU card 100B in responseto the SELECT FILE command will be explained in further detail belowwith reference to FIG. 42. A ‘user interface card resident applicationidentifier’, referred to in Table 15, is an identifier associated withthe user interface card resident application. The user interface cardresident application identifier is configured in accordance to theguidelines set out in “International Standards Organisation(ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 7816-5: 1994Standards, Part 5: Numbering System and Registration Procedure forApplication Identifiers” [hereinafter referred to as the ‘ISO 7816-5standards’]. The user interface card resident application identifierconsists of a registered application provider identifier (RID) assignedby a standards authority, and a proprietary application providerextension (PIX) assigned by the application provider.

The method 2300 continues at the next step 2305 where the CPU 1045 ofthe reader 300 reads a card header 1100 associated with the card 100B.The card header 1100 was described above with reference to FIG. 11 andis stored in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B. Step 705 isimplemented using a READ BINARY command, according to the ISO 7816-4standard, sent by the CPU 1045. If the user interface card residentapplication is implemented in accordance with an ISO 7816-4 standardfile system, as will be explained below, then the card header 1100 iscontained in an elementary file (EF) having an identifier 0x0000. Suchan elementary file is implicitly selected when the user interface cardresident application is selected at step 2303. The format of the READBINARY command invoked by the reader 300 is shown in Table 16 below.

TABLE 16 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0xB0 P1 0x00 P2 0x00 Lc 0 Data EmptyLe 0x13

As explained above, the card header 1100 is 19 bytes long and if anyerror or warning identifiers are encountered at step 2305, then thereader 300 will assume that the card header 1100 cannot be read properlyand register a bad card. The process performed by the CPU card 100B inresponse to the READ BINARY command will be explained in further detailbelow with reference to FIG. 43. At the next step 2307, if the reader300 is in low-power mode, then the method 2300 proceeds to step 2311.Otherwise, at the next step 2309, the state of the smart card 100B isrestored as will be explained in detail below. Step 2309 is implementedusing a RESTORE STATE command sent to the CPU 275 by the CPU 1045 of thereader 300 and which is configured as an application protocol data unithaving a format as shown in Table 17 below.

TABLE 17 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0x12 P1 0x00 (other values are RFU) P20x00 (other values are RFU) Lc Length of state code Data State code Le 0

After receiving the RESTORE STATE command with the parameters shown inTable 17 from the CPU 1045 of the reader 300, the user interface cardresident application executing within the CPU 275 checks that a presentstate code provided by the user interface resident card application isidentical to a previous state code generated during a previous SAVESTATE command stored in non-volatile memory of the storage means 276 ofthe CPU card 100B and in the memory 1046 of the reader 300. The previousstate code is provided to the user interface card resident applicationin the ‘Data’ field of the RESTORE STATE command. The SAVE STATE commandwill be explained in further detail later in this document. If thepresent state code is not identical to the previous state code generatedduring a previous SAVE STATE command then previous state informationstored in non-volatile memory of the storage means 276 is erased.Warning and error conditions shown in Table 18 below can also occur.However, Is if the present state code is identical to the previous statecode received from the reader 300, then current volatile stateinformation is replaced with the state information stored in thenon-volatile memory of the storage means 276. The process performed bythe CPU card 100B in response to the RESTORE STATE command will beexplained in further detail below with reference to FIG. 41.

TABLE 18 Value Meaning 0x6300 Invalid code presented - state erased0x6B00 Incorrect parameters P1-P2

At step 2311, the CPU 1045 waits for an event such as the selection of auser interface element 154 in the form of a press or release. Uponselection of a user interface element 154 by the user, the method 2300proceeds to step 2313 where the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 sends an (X,Y) position coordinate pair associated with the selection to the CPU 275of the CPU card 100B for processing. Step 2313 is implemented using aPROCESS COORD command configured as an application protocol data unitsent to the CPU card 100B by the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 and having aformat shown in Table 19 below.

TABLE 19 Field Value CLA 0x90 INS 0x00 (PRESS) or 0x02 (RELEASE) P1 Xco-ordinate P2 Y co-ordinate Lc 0 Data Empty Le Maximum length of datato receive

As will be explained in further detail later in this document, the userinterface card resident application processes the coordinate data bycomparing the (X, Y) position coordinate pair to the data stored in thestorage means 276 of the microprocessor 259. The reader 300 typicallysets the maximum length of data to receive (Le) field to a maximumpossible value, 0x00 (which is used to encode x100). Data associatedwith a user interface element object, which is stored in the storagemeans 276 of the microprocessor 259 and which is associated with the (X,Y) position coordinate pair sent from the reader 300, is returned by theuser interface card resident application in response to the PROCESSCOORD command. The format of the data returned by the user interfacecard resident application in response to the PROCESS COORD command isshown in Table 20 below. The process performed by the CPU card 100B inresponse to the PROCESS COORD command will be explained in furtherdetail below with reference to FIG. 28.

TABLE 20 Name Length Description flags 1 byte Flags specific to amatched User Interface Element data 0 or more Data associated with thematched User Interface bytes Element

Certain user interface element objects may be designated to be activeonly on a press or a release event corresponding to a user selection,and separate instruction codes can be used to allow the reader 300 todistinguish one from the other. If the (X, Y) position coordinate pairsupplied by the reader 300 is in the range [(0,0), (127, 255)] but nodata is found to match the position coordinate data, then the “flags”field, as shown in table 20, is constructed from global button flagsspecified in the card header 1100. Further, the data field is returnedempty and one of the error identifiers shown in Table 21 below may alsobe returned by the user interface card resident application.

TABLE 21 Value Meaning 0x6985 Data must be encrypted, but no session keyavailable, or session key invalid 0x6A82 There is no user interface cardimage loaded (File not found) 0x6A86 The co-ordinates provided areoutside the allowable range (Incorrect P1-P2)

If the CPU 1045 has not received any events for a predetermined period(e.g. one minute), at step 2311, then the method 2300 proceeds to step2315 where the user interface card resident application executing withinthe CPU 275 saves current state information in non-volatile memory ofthe storage means 276. Step 2315 is implemented using a SAVE STATEcommand sent from the reader 300 and which is configured as anapplication protocol data unit having a format shown in Table 22 below.

TABLE 22 Field Value CLA 0x90 INS 0x10 P1 0x00 P2 0x00 Lc 0 Data EmptyLe Maximum length of random data to be generated

After receiving the SAVE STATE command with correct parameters the userinterface card resident application executing within the CPU 275 savesall volatile state information to non-volatile memory of the storagemeans 276 and then generates a random state code of a specified length.The user interface card resident application also returns the state codeto the reader 300. The state code is saved in the memory 1046 of thereader 300 in order to use the RESTORE STATE command described above.The process performed by the CPU card 100B in response to the SAVE STATEcommand will be explained in further detail below with reference to FIG.40. One of the error identifiers shown in Table 23 below may also bereturned to reader 300 by the user interface application upon receivingthe SAVE STATE command.

TABLE 23 Value Meaning 0x6300 State saved, but no random number returned0x6B00 Incorrect parameters P1-P2 0x6CXX Incorrect Le specified. XXspecifies recommended length.

The error identifier 0x6CXX shown in Table 23 is returned to the reader300 by the user interface card resident application executing within theCPU 275 when the CPU card 100B is unwilling to accept the requestedstate code length because it is too short. The user interface cardresident application can also provide a value corresponding to theshortest appropriate length along with the error condition.Alternatively, if the requested length is longer than the CPU card 100Bcan handle, then the user interface card resident application generatesthe longest code that the CPU card 100B is configured for and returns avalue corresponding to the longest code. A typical length for the statecode is between eight and sixteen bytes. However, the state code can beof any length up to two hundred and fifty six bytes.

The method 2300 continues at the next step 2317, where the CPU card 100Bis powered down by the operating system executing in the CPU 275. Thenafter a predetermined period, the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 assigns thereader 100B to low power mode at the next step 2319. At the next step2321, the reader 300 is woken up and the method 2300 then returns tostep 2301. The reader 300 can be woken up automatically by the CPU 1045,for example, upon a CPU card 100B being inserted into the reader 300 asshown in FIG. 4 and/or by a user touching the touch panel 308.

2.3.1 CPU Card Operating Modes

The user interface card resident application executing within the CPU275 of the CPU card 100B operates in one of two different operatingmodes (i.e. Standard Input Mode and Buffered Input Mode), which affectthe response of the user interface card resident application to a touchon the touch panel 308.

2.3.1.1 Standard Input Mode

Standard input mode is the default mode. In standard input mode, the CPU275 of the CPU card 100B returns the data field associated with a givenuser interface element 154 if a match is found in the storage means 276,in response to a PROCESS COORD command sent from the reader 300.Conversely, if a match is not found, the CPU 275 returns default data.The returned information may be inline data (i.e. stored within thedefinition of the particular user interface element), file data (i.e.stored within a file in a file system implemented on the CPU card 100B),data indicating a transition to buffered input mode or data returned bya delegated application, as will be explained in more detail below.

2.3.1.2 Buffered Input Mode

When the user interface card resident application is in buffered inputmode, the PROCESS COORD command does not result in the return of anydata to the reader 300 in response to the selection of a user interfaceelement 154. Instead, a default flags field is returned by the CPU 275to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 in response to the selection of a userinterface element 154. Certain user interface elements are designated asinput user interface elements, which, when pressed, cause an associatedobject identifier to be stored in a temporary input buffer.

Additionally, four special user interface elements may be defined. Oneof these user interface elements 154 is the “OK button” 162, whichserves to commit the temporary input buffer and perform some action onthe buffered data. The other special user interface elements are the“cancel button” 254, the “backspace button” 258 and the “clear button”256, which represent “Cancel”, “Backspace” and “Clear” roles,respectively. A user interface element 154 configured as a “Cancel”button, when selected, clears an input buffer of the CPU card 100B andreturns the user interface card resident application to standard mode,in exactly the same state as the user interface card residentapplication was in when buffered input mode was activated. A userinterface element configured as a “Backspace” button, when selected,clears a reference to a last entered user interface element from anactive buffer of the CPU card 100B. If the buffer is empty, no action istaken. Finally, a user interface element 154 configured as a “Clear”button, when selected, removes references to all user interface elements154 contained within the input buffer of the CPU card 100B. If thebuffer is already empty, no action is taken.

The properties of a particular buffered input session are associatedwith a buffer descriptor, which is read from data stored on the CPU card100B as will be described later in this document. The buffer descriptorhas the structure shown in Table 24 below:

TABLE 24 Name Length Description Flags 1 byte Various parameters aboutthe buffer descriptor. See Table 25. Action 1 byte A code, indicatingthe action to be performed after the OK button is pressed. See Table 26.Butlen 1 byte The maximum number of bytes that can be stored in thebuffer. 1_buttons 1 byte The length of the subsequent “buttons” field.Must be equal to 4 or more bytes, in order to accommodate the specialuser interface element definitions. Buttons 1_buttons An array storingthe identifiers of the user interface elements that can be used asbuffer elements. See Table 27. 1_data 1 byte The length of thesubsequent “data” field. Its value depends on the specified action. Data1_data Other data specific to the requested action. Output Variable Ifthe buffered input mode is invoked by pressing a user interface elementon the card, this data is sent to the reader as data when that userinterface element is pressed. This field may be empty.

FIG. 49(a) shows an example buffer descriptor 4900 which has theconfiguration described in Table 24. The buffer descriptor 4900 includesan array 4901, referred to as the ‘Buttons’ array, which is used tostore identifiers associated with user interface elements 154 that canbe used as buffer user interface elements. The array 4901 of FIG. 49(a)includes three identifiers 4902 corresponding to user interface elementsdesignated as input user interface elements. The array 4901 alsoincludes the four special user interface elements 4903 (i.e. OK, Cancel,Clear, Bksp) described above. Each of the identifiers stored in thebuffer descriptor 4900 can have associated mapping data 4905, as shownin FIG. 49(a). The buffer descriptor 4900 can be utilised to configurethe function of the user interface elements of a CPU card. For example,FIG. 49(b) shows a CPU card 100F, which has been configured for a pizzaordering application. The CPU card 100F comprises a user interfaceelement 4907, which includes the text ‘Start Over’. The Start Over userinterface element 4907 has been configured as a ‘Clear’ button (havingthe function described above) by storing an associated identifier, ‘5’,in the clear identifier position of the array 4901. The identifier ‘5’indicates the position of a corresponding user interface element object4911 in the mapping data 4905.

The flags for the flags field of the buffer descriptor structure ofTable 24 are described in Table 25 below:

TABLE 25 Name Value Description Circular 0x01 In a circular buffer, acharacter that overflows the buffer replaces the oldest character. Ifthis flag is not set, overflowing characters are ignored. expand data0x02 Normally, buffer data is stored and processed as the Objectidentifiers corresponding to the user interface elements that werepressed. If this flag is set, the buffer data is expanded to thecontents of the user interface elements that were pressed before beingprocessed.

The actions described in Table 26 below are defined for the action fieldof the structure of Table 24:

TABLE 26 Name Value Description Output 0x00 An output buffer. Passcode0x10 A passcode buffer.

The “buttons” field has the format shown in Table 27 below:

TABLE 27 Name Length Description Ok_id 1 byte The identifier of the “OKbutton”. Cancel_id 1 byte The identifier of the “Cancel button”. Bksp_id1 byte The identifier of the “Backspace button”. Clear_id 1 byte Theidentifier of the “Clear button”. Input_id Variable An array storing theidentifiers of the user interface elements that can be used as inputelements.

The “ok_id” field shown in Table 27 stores a valid object identifier.The other three special user interface elements do not need to bespecified and can be set to a default identifier (e.g. defined by thevalue 0).

The user interface card resident application executing within the CPU275 of the CPU card 100B can be configured to begin in buffered inputmode when the application is initialised. This is enabled by setting upan appropriate buffer descriptor in a file with a certain identifier(i.e.0x0002), as an “initial” buffer descriptor (as described above inTable 28). A typical use of this feature is to disable all of thefeatures of the CPU card 100B until a pass-code (e.g. a personalidentification number) is entered. As an example, the pass-code can bein the form of a series of user interface element objects associatedwith user interface elements 154 associated with an image (e.g. a humanface) formed on a surface of a CPU card. For example, FIG. 48 shows aCPU card 100E depicting an image 4801 of a face. In this example, thecard 100E includes ten regions (e.g. 4803), shown in phantom lines whichdefine user interface elements arbitrarily positioned on the surface ofthe user interface card 100E. However, in this case the user interfaceelements defined by the regions (e.g. 4803) are not visible to a user ofthe card 100E. The user's pass-code can be made up, for example, of theregions 4804, 4805 and 4806 adjacent the left-eye, the left-side of themouth and the right-eye, respectively, of the image 4801, and the usercan enter the pass code by selecting these regions 4804, 4805 and 4806in sequence.

2.3.1.3 Output Buffers

When a buffer descriptor is configured to have an action field of“output”, as shown in Table 26, an associated buffer is referred to asthe output buffer. When a user interface element (e.g. user interfaceelement 162) configured as an “OK button” (i.e. having the functiondescribed above in section 2.3.1.2) is selected, a response is createdby appending buffered data to what is stored in the “data”field of thebuffer descriptor associated with the user interface element 162 andstored in the storage means 276. If the “expand data” flag is set, thebuffered object identifiers are replaced with the data associated withthe user interface element that the object identifiers represent.

When a user interface element (e.g. the user interface element 164)configured as a “Cancel button” (i.e. having the function describedabove in section 2.3.1.2) is selected, only the header 1100 is returned.The user interface card resident application can be configured to enterstandard input mode after the user interface elements configured as “OK”(e.g. 162) and configured as “Cancel” (e.g. 164) are selected.

2.3.1.4 Pass-code Buffers

When a buffer descriptor is configured to have an action field of“passcode”, as shown in Table 26, the associated buffer is a Pass-codebuffer. The “data” field of the buffer descriptor as shown in Table 24stores the identifier of a file containing the required pass-code for aparticular CPU card 100B. When the user interface element 162 configuredas an “OK” button is selected, a string stored in a temporary inputbuffer in the storage means 276 is compared against a string stored inthe pass-code file corresponding to the identifier. A standard messagecan be configured to indicate whether or not a correct pass-code wasentered by a user. The CPU card 100B exits buffered input mode only if apass-code match occurs.

For security, a cancel function should not be defined in a pass-codebuffer descriptor. The pass-code buffer descriptor is preferablyspecified as an initial buffer.

5 2.4 Additional Software Interfaces

2.4.1 International Standards Organisation (ISO) File System

An international standards organisation (ISO) file system can beimplemented on the CPU card 100B to provide users of the CPU card 100Bwith access to certain information stored in the storage means 276 ofthe CPU card 100B. Such a file system preferably has a flat directorystructure containing transparent elementary files (EF) referenced by16-bit identifiers in accordance with ISO 7816-4 standards. However, aperson skilled in the relevant art would realise that any suitable filesystem and corresponding directory structure can be used on the CPU card100B.

Table 28 below lists elementary files and associated identifiers, whichcan be configured on the CPU card 100B.

TABLE 28 File ID File Name File Description 0x0000 User interface Theheader portion of the user interface card card header 0x0001 Userinterface The data portion of the user interface card card data 0x0002Initial buffer A buffer descriptor indicating that the card descriptorshould be initially in buffered input mode 0x0008 Card key Acryptographic key used by the CPU card (for example, to facilitatesecure transmission of a new session key) 0x0009 Session key Apreviously negotiated cryptographic key used to encrypt data destinedfor the remote application 0x0101 SL1 key A cryptographic key used toauthenticate access to security level 1 0x0102 SL2 key A key used toauthenticate access to security level 2 0x0103 SL3 key A key used toauthenticate access to security level 3

A ‘User Interface Card Header’ file having identifier (0x0000), as shownin Table 28, is implicitly selected when the user interface cardresident application executing on the CPU card 100B is activated (e.g.at step 2303 of the method 2300). The data in the User Interface CardHeader file would typically conform to the format 1100 as shown in FIG.11.

The data associated with a single file is stored in one contiguous areaof non-volatile memory in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B.Each file is assigned a maximum length, and the data region associatedwith that file is preferably configured to provide enough space to storea longest possible file.

A file directory can be used to store certain information about eachfile present in the file system where the file directory consists of alist of entries beginning at address 0x10 of a static data area in thestorage means 276. A two-byte word at address 0x00 can be used torepresent the total number of files currently present in the directory.The region between 0x02 and 0x10 of the static data area is configuredas an array of pointers to the directory entries for files 0x0000through 0x0006, providing for quicker access to these particular files.Each directory entry is 25 bytes long, and consists of the followingfields as shown in Table 29 below:

TABLE 29 Name Length Description Id 2 bytes The file's two-byte ISO 7816identifier Flags 2 bytes Flags associated with the file Offset 2 bytesThe offset of the first byte of the file from the bottom of the staticdata area Read level 1 byte The minimum security level allowed to readthe file Write 1 byte The minimum security level allowed to write thelevel file Length 2 bytes The current length of the file Maxlen 2 bytesThe maximum possible length of the file RFU 4 bytes Currently unused -reserved for future use

The flags associated with the file are a combination of zero or more ofthe following values shown in Table 30:

TABLE 30 Value Name Description 0x80 erasable Parts of the file may beerased if write permissions satisfied 0x40 hide length Do not report thelength of the file when selected, unless read permissions are alreadysatisfied

The elementary files of the ISO file system can be accessed through thefollowing commands.

2.4.1.1 File Control Information

When selecting a file stored in the storage means 276 of the card 100B,the user can receive a structure containing file control information.This structure preferably complies with Table 2 of the ISO 7816-4standard, which includes the following:

(i) File length—this can be suppressed by the CPU 275 if a securitylevel of the CPU card 100B is lower than a corresponding read level forthe file, as will be explained in further detail later in this document;

(ii) File descriptor byte—as outlined in Table 3 of the ISO 7816-4standard;

(iii) File identifier; and

(iv) File security attributes—can be configured as a two byte numberwhere a first byte can describe a read security level of a file and asecond byte can describe a write level for the file.

2.4.1.2 Select File

The CPU card 100B can be configured such that a user can select a filestored in the storage means 276 for viewing or editing. The file can beassociated with one of the user interface elements 154 (e.g. the userinterface element 162). In this case, upon selecting the associated userinterface element 162, the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 sends a SELECTFILE command to the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The SELECT FILE command is configured as anapplication protocol data unit and has a format as shown in Table 31below. The SELECT FILE command is a subset of the specification for sucha command as outlined in the ISO 7816-4 standards.

TABLE 31 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0xA4 P1 0x00 (select MF, DF, or EF)0x02 (select EF under current DF) Both 0x00 and 0x02 produce equivalentresults P2 0x00 (select first or only occurrence, return File ControlInformation (FCI) 0x0C (select first or only occurrence, return no data)Lc 2 Data two-byte file identifier Le maximum length of FCI buffer (or0, if no FCI requested)

If the two-byte file identifier as shown in Table 31 points to a validfile, then that file becomes an active file. File control information(FCI) is returned to the reader 300 by the user interface card residentapplication if the P2 parameter is set to ‘0x00’. The error and warningidentifiers as seen in Table 32 below can also be returned by the userinterface card resident application upon the user interface cardresident application receiving a SELECT FILE command.

TABLE 32 Value Meaning 0x6283 File exists, but empty 0x6A81 Incorrectparameters P1-P2 0x6A82 File not found 0x6A87 Lc incorrect2.4.1.3 Read Binary

Up to two hundred and fifty six bytes can be read from a selectedelementary file stored in the storage means 276 upon the reader 300sending a READ BINARY command to the user interface card residentapplication executing within the CPU 275. If the end of a file isreached or exceeded then all available bytes of the file are read and awarning code is returned to the reader 300 by the user interface cardresident application. The READ BINARY command is configured as anapplication protocol data unit and has a format as shown in Table 33below.

TABLE 33 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0xB0 P1 MSB of offset, must be <0x80since short EF addressing not allowed P2 LSB of offset Lc 0 Data EmptyLe Number of bytes to be read

The error and warning identifiers as seen in Table 34 below can also bereturned to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 by the user interface cardresident application upon the user interface card resident applicationreceiving a READ BINARY command.

TABLE 34 Value Meaning 0x6282 End of file reached 0x6982 File's readpermissions are not satisfied by current security level 0x6A81 Incorrectparameters (P1>=0x80) 0x6B00 offset beyond end of file2.4.1.4 Write Binary and Update Binary

WRITE BINARY and UPDATE BINARY commands are used to write one or morebytes to an elementary file stored in the storage means 276 of the CPUcard 100B. The WRITE BINARY and UPDATE BINARY commands are configured asapplication protocol data units having a format as shown in Table 35below.

TABLE 35 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0xD0 (WRITE) or 0xD6 (UPDATE) P1 MSBof offset, must be <0x80 since short EF addressing not allowed P2 LSB ofoffset Lc Number of bytes to write Data Bytes to write Le 0

Up to two hundred and fifty-five bytes of data can be written to aselected elementary file stored in the storage means 276 using the WRITEBINARY and UPDATE BINARY commands. When writing to file offsets wheredata is already present, that data is replaced with the new dataspecified in the WRITE BINARY and UPDATE BINARY commands. If the end ofa file is exceeded, the length of the file is extended to accommodatethe entire data string being written by the WRITE BINARY and UPDATEBINARY commands, unless the maximum length specified in the propertiesof the file being written to is exceeded.

The error and warning identifiers as seen in Table 36 below can bereturned to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 by the user interface cardresident application upon the user interface card resident applicationreceiving a WRITE BINARY and UPDATE BINARY command.

TABLE 36 Value Meaning 0x6381 Maximum length exceeded - full length notwritten 0x6982 File's write permissions are not satisfied by currentsecurity level 0x6A81 Incorrect parameters (P1>=0x80) 0x6B00 Offsetbeyond end of file2.4.1.5 Erase Binary

An ERASE BINARY command can be sent to the user interface card residentapplication by the reader 300 to truncate a file stored in the storagemeans 276 of the CPU card 100B, according to an offset indicated by theparameters of the ERASE BINARY command.

The format of the ERASE BINARY command is shown in Table 37 below:

TABLE 37 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0x0E P1 MSB of offset, must be <0x80since short EF addressing not allowed P2 LSB of offset Lc 0 Data EmptyLe 0

The ERASE BINARY command truncates a file from the offset indicated bythe parameters P1 and P2. Further, the following error and warningidentifiers can be returned by the user interface card residentapplication upon receiving an ERASE BINARY command, as shown in Table 38below:

TABLE 38 Value Meaning 0x6981 File is not erasable 0x6982 File's writepermissions are not satisfied by current security level 0x6A81 Incorrectparameters (P1>=0x80) 0x6B00 Offset beyond end of file2.4.2 Security Architecture

At any given time, the user interface card resident application isexecuting at a certain security level on the microprocessor 259 of theCPU card 100B. Four security levels are described herein. However, up tothirty-two security levels can be implemented on the CPU card 100B. Theuser interface card resident application executing within the CPU 275 isconfigured to begin at security level zero, as defined in Table 39below:

TABLE 39 SL User Type Description 0 Default Restricted access, normaloperation within the reader. 1 Application Used by the remoteapplication to establish a session key through a trusted set-top box orreader. 2 Owner Used by the user of the CPU card to customise data suchas personal details, passcode etc within a file. 3 Issuer Used by thecard's issuer for administrative purposes.

To increase the security level of the CPU card 100B the user follows theauthentication process as will be described below with reference toFIGS. 46 and 47. In accordance with the described authenticationprocess, the CPU 275 of the card 100B provides random challenge data inresponse to a GET CHALLENGE command. The challenge data is provided bythe CPU 275 for subsequent encryption and returned to the CPU 275 withan EXTERNAL AUTHENTICATE command as will be described below withreference to section 2.4.2.2.

The user interface card resident application decrypts the encryptedchallenge data according to a key provided by a user and compares thiswith the original challenge. If the decrypted challenge matches theoriginal challenge then a user is authenticated and the CPU card 100B isset to a required security level as requested by the user. Otherwise,the CPU 275 denies permission to increase the security level of the CPUcard 100B.

Generally, no authentication is required to decrease the security levelof the CPU card 100B.

Each file of a file system implemented on the CPU card 100B isassociated with a read security level, and a write security level. TheREAD BINARY, WRITE BINARY, UPDATE BINARY and ERASE BINARY commands sentto the CPU card 100B from the reader 300 will only succeed if thecurrent security level of the CPU card 100B is greater than or equal tothe appropriate security level associated with the selected file.

The security attributes of a file are encoded in file controlinformation (FCI) as a two-byte field marked by a tag ‘86’, which isassociated with a particular file. The first byte represents the readsecurity level, while the second byte represents the write securitylevel associated with the file. The following commands are sent to theCPU 275 of the CPU card 100B by the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 duringthe process of changing the security level of the CPU card 100B.

The PROCESS COORD command can be utilised to effectively override thesecurity level of a file. A file that is referenced in a user interfaceelement object specified by the P1 and P2 co-ordinates of an PROCESSCOORD command can be accessed without the card 100B being set to therequired security level, if a user interface element 154 correspondingwith the file (i.e. the user interface element object) is pressed orreleased. The file can only be accessed in this manner through themechanisms provided by the PROCESS COORD command. However, this enablesthe issuer of the card 100B to provide limited access to the contents ofa file while still protecting the file from general use.

2.4.2.1 Get Challenge

The format of the GET CHALLENGE command follows a subset of a similarcommand specification in the ISO 7816-4 standard, as shown in Table 40.

TABLE 40 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0x84 P1 0x00 P2 0x00 Lc 0 Data EmptyLe Variable (must be positive multiple of 8)

A number of bytes (i.e., determined by the Le field) of challenge dataare returned by the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B in response to the GETCHALLENGE command. Further, the error and warning identifiers as shownin Table 41 can also be returned by the CPU 275 in response to the GETCHALLENGE command.

TABLE 41 Value Meaning 0x6A81 Incorrect parameters2.4.2.2 External Authenticate

If the security level requested by a user is greater than the securitylevel that the CPU card 100B is currently set to, then an EXTERNALAUTHENTICATE command having a format shown in Table 42 below, is sent tothe CPU 275. The EXTERNAL AUTHENTICATE command attempts to decrypt thesecurity level data stored in the storage means 276 using a keyassociated with the requested security level. If the EXTERNALAUTHENTICATE command is successful, then the security level of the CPUcard 100B is changed in accordance with the request made by the user.Conversely, if the requested security level is less than or equal to thesecurity level that the CPU card 100B is currently set to then thesecurity level is changed without attempting to authenticate the user. Anominal number of attempts (e.g. three) can be allowed before a freshchallenge is requested by the CPU 1045.

TABLE 42 Field Value CLA 0x00 INS 0x82 P1 0x00 P2 0x80 & S, where S is a5-bit number representing the requested SL Lc Length of key to encryptchallenge Data Encrypted challenge Le 0

The error and warning identifiers shown in Table 43 can also result froman EXTERNAL AUTHENTICATE command being sent to the CPU card 100B.

TABLE 43 Value Meaning 0x63CX Authentication failed: X more attempts areallowed before a new challenge must be issued 0x6700 Lc inconsistentwith parameters (must be equal to 64 if authentication required) 0x6985No challenge data available: GET CHALLENGE command must first be issued0x6A81 Invalid parameters P1-P2 0x6A88 Key file for referenced securitylevel not available2.4.2.3 Example

In one example of the security architecture described herein, the CPUcard 100B can contain some information about its user. The informationcan be associated with one or more user interface elements. For example,one user interface element object can store the user's home address,while another user interface element object stores the user's creditcard number. If the issuer of the CPU card 100B wishes to make the dataassociated with both user interface element objects easy to modify at alater date without having to change the mapping data associated with theuser interface element objects, both pieces of user information can bestored in separate files in the memory 276 of the card 100B, andreferences to these files can stored in a mapping data file associatedwith the user interface element objects.

If the user's place of residence were to change, the user can be allowedto change the address by giving the associated file a write securitylevel of 2, so that the user must authenticate themselves before beingable to change the information. However, if the user desires to changethe credit card number stored on the card 100B, the issuer might requirethat the user bring the card 100B to a central authority, for example,together with the new credit card, at which point the issuer can updatethe credit card number on the CPU card 100B. Such a file can be createdwith a write security level of 3, denying the user the opportunity tomodify the file, but allowing the issuer to do so.

2.5 Instruction Invocation

The commands and classes referred to herein are configured in accordancewith the ISO 7816-4 standard. Whenever a command configured as anapplication protocol data unit is received by the user interface cardresident application executing within the CPU 275, an instructionpointer is set to zero. The user interface card resident applicationanalyses a header associated with the received application protocol dataunit to determine whether a valid command has been received. If valid, aprocess corresponding to the command is executed by the CPU 275 of theCPU card 100B. Alternatively, if the command is not valid then an erroridentifier (e.g. ‘0x6E00’ representing ‘class not supported’) isreturned to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300.

2.5.1 Main Process

A main process 2400, as shown in FIG. 24, is executed by the CPU 275upon a command being issued to the user interface card residentapplication by the reader 300. The process 2400 checks whether or notthe CPU card 100B has been initialised and if not, then aninitialisation process, as seen in FIG. 25, is executed by the CPU 275.The initialisation process will be explained in detail below.

The main process 2400 is implemented as software, preferably as part ofthe user interface card resident application program executing withinthe CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and being stored in the storagemeans 276. The process 2400 begins at step 2401 upon the user interfacecard resident application receiving a command. If an ‘Initialised Flag’stored in the storage means 276 is set then the process 2400 continuesat the next step 2403. Otherwise, the process 2400 proceeds to step2405, where the CPU 275 executes the initialisation process 2500 inorder to set the user interface card resident application to a standardor buffered input mode. At step 2403, if the class of the command is‘0x90’ then the process 2400 proceeds to step 2407 where a proprietryinstruction process is executed by the CPU 275, on all commands notconforming to ISO 7816-4 standard interfaces but which are specific tothe user interface card resident application. Otherwise the process 2400proceeds to step 2409 where if the class of the command is ‘0x00’ thenthe process 2400 proceeds to step 2411. The proprietary instructionprocess executed at step 2407 will be explained in detail below withreference to FIG. 26. At step 2411, an ISO instruction process isexecuted by the CPU 275 on all commands not conforming to ISO 7816-4standard interfaces. The ISO instruction process will be explained inmore detail below with reference to FIG. 27. If the class of the commandis not ‘0x00’, at step 2409, then the process 2400 proceeds to step2413, where a ‘bad class’ error identifier is returned to the CPU 1045of the reader 300 by the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B and the process2400 concludes.

2.5.2 Initialisation Process

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram showing the initialisation process executed atstep 2405 by the CPU 275, at the beginning of the first instructionissued to the CPU card 100B. The initialisation process is implementedas software, preferably as part of the user interface card residentapplication program executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor259 and being stored in the storage means 276. The process of step 2405begins at sub-step 2501, where if there is a valid initial bufferdescriptor described in a file stored in the storage means 276, then theprocess of step 2405 proceeds to sub-step 2503, where the buffered inputmode is set according to the parameters of the initial bufferdescriptor. If there is no valid initial buffer descriptor, at sub-step2501, then the process of step 2405 proceeds to sub-step 2505 where theCPU card 100B is set to standard input mode. At the next sub-step 2505,the initialised flag stored in the storage means 276 is set and theprocess by the CPU 275 of step 2405 concludes.

2.5.3 Proprietary Instruction Process

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram showing the proprietary instruction processexecuted at step 2407. The process of step 2407 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. As described above, the proprietaryinstruction process is responsible for all of the commands which do notconform to the ISO 7816-4 standard interfaces, but are specific to theuser interface card resident application and have a class byte, 0x90.

The process of step 2407 begins at sub-step 2601, where if the CPU 275determines that the command received by the user interface card residentapplication is 0x12 representing a RESTORE STATE command then theprocess proceeds to sub-step 2603. Otherwise, the process of step 2407proceeds to sub-step 2605 where if the CPU 275 has saved the stateinformation in the storage means 276 then the process proceeds tosub-step 2607.

At sub-step 2603, a restore state process is executed by the CPU 275.The restore state process is configured to erase previous stateinformation stored in non-volatile memory of the storage means 276 ifthe present state code is not identical to the previous state codegenerated during a previous SAVE STATE command. The restore stateprocess will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG.41.

At sub-step 2607, the state information and state code are erased fromthe non-volatile memory of the storage means 276. The process of step2407 continues at the next sub-step 2609 where if the command receivedby the user interface card resident application is 0x10 representing aSAVE STATE command, then the process continues at sub-step 2611.Otherwise, the process of step 2407 continues at sub-step 2613. Atsub-step 2611, a save state process is executed by the CPU 275. The savestate process saves all volatile state information to non-volatilememory of the storage means 276 and then generates a random state codeof a specified length. The save state process will be described in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 40.

At sub-step 2613, if the command is 0x00 or 0x02 representing a PROCESSCOORD coordinate command then the process of step 2407 proceeds tosub-step 2615 where a process coordinate process is executed by the CPU275. The process coordinate process searches the data stored on thestorage means 276 to determine a user interface element objectcorresponding to the coordinates provided by the reader 300 upon a userselecting one of the user interface elements 154. The process coordinateprocess will be described below with reference to FIG. 28. Otherwise,the process of step 2407 proceeds to sub-step 2617 where a badinstruction error identifier is returned to the CPU 1045 of the reader300 by the user interface card resident application executing within theCPU 275.

2.5.4 ISO Instruction Process

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram showing the ISO instruction process executedat step 2411 of the process 2400. The process of step 2411 isresponsible for processing all instructions, received by the userinterface card resident application executing within the CPU 275, fromthe reader 300, which do not conform to the interfaces specified in theISO 7816-4 standards, and have a class byte of 0x00. The process of step2411 is preferably implemented as part of the user interface cardresident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. Theprocess of step 2411 begins at sub-step 2701 where if the commandreceived by the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B is 0xA4, representing aSELECT FILE command then the process proceeds to sub-step 2703.Otherwise, the process of step 2411 proceeds to sub-step 2705. Atsub-step 2703 a select file process is executed by the CPU 275 in orderto determine an active file. The select file process will be describedin more detail below with reference to FIG. 42.

At sub-step 2705, if the command received by the CPU 275 of the CPU card100B is 0xB0, representing a READ BINARY command then the processproceeds to sub-step 2707. Otherwise, the process of step 2411 proceedsto sub-step 2709. At sub-step 2707 a read binary process is executed bythe CPU 275 to read data from a currently selected elementary file. Theread binary process will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 43.

The process of step 2411 continues at sub-step 2709, where if thecommand received by the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B is 0xD0or 0xD6,representing a WRITE BINARY command or an UPDATE BINARY command,respectively, then the process proceeds to sub-step 2711. Otherwise, theprocess of step 2411 proceeds to sub-step 2713. At sub-step 2711 a writebinary process is executed to write data to a currently selectedelementary file. The write binary process will be described in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 44.

At sub-step 2713, if the command received by the CPU 275 of the CPU card100B is 0x0E, representing an ERASE BINARY command then the processproceeds to sub-step 2715. Otherwise, the process of step 2411 proceedsto sub-step 2717. At sub-step 2715 an erase binary process is executedby the CPU 275 to truncate a currently selected elementary filedepending on the parameters received with the ERASE BINARY command. Theerase binary process will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 45.

The process of step 2411 continues at sub-step 2717, where if thecommand received by user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B is 0x84, representing a GETCHALLENGE command then the process proceeds to sub-step 2719. Otherwise,the process of step 2411 proceeds to sub-step 2721. At sub-step 2719 aget challenge process is executed by the CPU 275 to provide challengedata in order to allow the security level of the CPU card 100B to bechanged. The get challenge process will be described in more detailbelow with reference to FIG. 46.

At sub-step 2721, if the command received by the CPU 275 of the CPU card100B is 0x82, representing an EXTERNAL AUTHENTICATE command then theprocess proceeds to sub-step 2723. Otherwise, the process of step 2411proceeds to sub-step 2725. At sub-step 2723 an external authenticateprocess is executed by the CPU 275 to decrypt presented challenge datausing a key associated with a requested security level. The externalauthenticate process will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 47.

At sub-step 2725 a bad instruction error identifier is returned by theuser interface card resident application executing within the CPU 275and the process of step 2411 concludes.

2.6 Process Coordinate Process

FIG. 28 is a flow diagram showing a process coordinate process executedat sub-step 2615 of the process of FIG. 26. The process coordinateprocess is executed by the CPU 275 upon a PROCESS COORD command beingreceived by the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275, in response to the selection of a user interfaceelement 154 by a user. The process coordinate process searches the datastored in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B to determine a userinterface element object corresponding to (X,Y) coordinates provided bythe reader 300 in response to a touch on the touch panel 308. Thecoordinates of the touch are contained in the PROCESS COORD command. Theprocess of sub-step 2615 is preferably implemented as part of the userinterface card resident application program executing within the CPU 275of the microprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. Theprocess of sub-step 2615 begins at sub-step 2801 where if the (X,Y)coordinates received from the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 are not withinthe range (127, 255), then the process proceeds to sub-step 2805.Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2615 proceeds to sub-step 2803 wherethe CPU 275 searches the user interface element objects stored withinthe storage means 276. If there are no user interface element objectsleft to search at sub-step 2803 then the process of sub-step 2615proceeds to sub-step 2809. Otherwise the process proceeds to sub-step2807 where the flags and type of the next object searched, aredetermined by examining the fields of the object structure associatedwith the object. If the object is a user interface element object and isactive then the process of sub-step 2615 proceeds to sub-step 2813.Otherwise, the process returns to sub-step 2803. At sub-step 2813, ifthe (X,Y) coordinates supplied by the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 as partof the PROCESS COORD are within the region specified for the particularuser interface element object then the process proceeds to sub-step2815. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2615 returns to sub-step 2803.At sub-step 2815 a user interface handler process is executed by the CPU275 to determine the data associated with the particular user interfaceelement 154 selected by the user. The user interface element handlerprocess will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG.29.

The process of sub-step 2615 continues at the next sub-step 2817 wherean output object data process is executed by the CPU 275. The outputobject data process is executed when the CPU 275 has to output any datato the reader 300 and will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 39.

At sub-step 2809, the output flags associated with a default userinterface element are set and the process proceeds to sub-step 2817.

The process of sub-step 2615 concludes at sub-step 2805 where an invalid(X,Y) error is returned to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 by the userinterface card resident application executing within the CPU 275.

2.6.1 User Interface Element Handler Process

The user interface element handler process of FIG. 29 is executed atsub-step 2815 of the process coordinate process, in order to examine auser interface element object associated with a selected user interfaceelement 154. The process of sub-step 2815 determines what action the CPU275 should take in response to the (X,Y) coordinates received by theuser interface card resident application at step 2801. The process ofsub-step 2815 is preferably implemented as part of the user interfacecard resident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. Theprocess of sub-step in 2815 begins at sub-step 2901 where if the CPUcard 100B is in buffered input mode then the process proceeds tosub-step 2903. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds tosub-step 2905. At sub-step 2903 if the input event is a press event,then the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step 2907 where abuffered input user interface element handler process is executed by theCPU 275. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step2911. The buffered input user interface element handler process isexecuted to append a user interface element selection to an input bufferand will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 30.

At sub-step 2905, if the input event is a press event (i.e. associatedwith a user interface element 154 selection), then the process ofsub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step 2909. Otherwise, the process proceedsto sub-step 2913. At sub-step 2909, if a “no press” flag associated withthe received command is set, then the process proceeds to sub-step 2911where the output flags associated with a default user interface elementare set and the process of sub-step 2815 concludes. At sub-step 2913 ifa “no release” flag is set then the process proceeds to sub-step 2911.Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step 2915.

The process of sub-step 2815 continues at sub-step 2915 where if thedata associated with the selected user interface element 154 is inlinedata (as described above) then the process of step 2815 proceeds tosub-step 2919. Otherwise, the data associated with the selected userinterface element 154 is file data and the process proceeds to sub-step2917. At sub-step 2919, the inline data associated with the selecteduser interface element 154 is read by the CPU 275. At sub-step 2917, aninline header associated with the data is stored in an output buffer.The process of sub-step 2815 continues at sub-step 2921 where the dataassociated with the selected user interface element 154 is read from anassociated file stored in the storage means 276. At the next sub-step2923, the user interface element object type associated with theselected user interface element 154 is determined. If the user interfaceelement object is a delegator object then the process of sub-step 2815proceeds to sub-step 2925 where a delegator user interface elementhandler process is executed by the CPU 275. The delegator user interfaceelement handler process will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 38. Alternatively, if the object associated with theselected user interface element is a buffer user interface elementobject, then the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step 2927. Atsub-step 2927, a buffer user interface element handler process, whichwill be explained below in more detail with reference to FIG. 37, isexecuted by the CPU 275. Still further, if the object associated withthe selected user interface element 154 is a text user interface elementobject, then the process of sub-step 2815 proceeds to sub-step 2929. Atsub-step 2929, a text user interface element handler process, which willbe explained below with reference to FIG. 36, is executed, by the CPU275, on the object data associated with the selected user interfaceelement 154. The process of step 2815 concludes after the user interfaceelement handler process of sub-steps 2925, 2927 and 2929 have beenexecuted by the CPU 275.

2.6.2 Buffered Input User Interface Element Handler

FIG. 30 is a flow diagram showing the buffered input user interfaceelement handler process executed at sub-step 2907 of the process of FIG.29. The process of sub-step 2907 is executed upon the selection of auser interface element 154 when the CPU card 100B is in buffered inputmode, in order to append the object data associated with the selecteduser interface element to an input buffer. The process of sub-step 2907is preferably implemented as part of the user interface card residentapplication program executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor259 and being stored in the storage means 276. The process of sub-step2907 begins at sub-step 3001, where a buffer descriptor associated withthe current input buffer session is searched in order to determine ifthe buffer descriptor contains the object identifier of the userinterface element corresponding to the (X,Y) coordinates, received atstep 2801. At the next sub-step 3003, if the buffer descriptordesignates the selected user interface element as an “OK button” (i.e.having the function described above) then the process of sub-step 2907proceeds to sub-step 3005. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step3007. At sub-step 3005, a buffer OK process is executed by the CPU 275,which will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 31.At sub-step 3007, if the buffer descriptor designates the selected userinterface element as a “cancel button” (i.e. having the functiondescribed above) then the process of sub-step 2907 proceeds to sub-step3009. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step 3011. At sub-step 3009a buffer cancel process is executed by the CPU 275, which will beexplained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 33.

The process of sub-step 2907 continues at sub-step 3011 where if thebuffer descriptor designates the selected user interface element as a“clear button” (i.e. having the function described above) then theprocess proceeds to sub-step 3013. Otherwise the process of sub-step2907 proceeds to sub-step 3015. At sub-step 3013 the input buffer iscleared by the CPU 275. If the buffer descriptor designates the selecteduser interface element as a “backspace” button (i.e. having the functiondescribed above) at sub-step 3015 then the process proceeds to sub-step3017 where a buffer backspace process is executed by the CPU 275. Thebuffer backspace process will be explained in more detail below withreference to FIG. 34. If the buffer descriptor does not designate theselected user interface element as a “backspace” button at sub-step 3015then the process proceeds to sub-step 3019. At sub-step 3019, if theselected user interface element is valid for the given input buffer thenthe process of sub-step 2907 proceeds to sub-step 3021. Otherwise, theprocess proceeds to sub-step 3023 where the output flags associated withthe default user interface element are set and the process of sub-step2907 concludes. A buffer append process is executed by the CPU 275 atsub-step 3021, which will be explained in more detail below withreference to FIG. 35.

Following the buffer OK and buffer cancel process executed at sub-steps3005 and 3009 respectively, the process of sub-step 2907 proceeds tosub-step 3025 where the output flags associated with the bufferdescriptor are set and the process concludes.

2.6.3 Buffer OK Process

The buffer OK process of sub-step 3005, as seen in FIG. 31, is executedby the CPU 275, when the CPU card 100B is in buffered input mode and auser interface element configured as an “OK button” (i.e. user interfaceelement 162) has been selected by a user at step 3003. The process ofsub-step 3005 is preferably implemented as part of the user interfacecard resident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. Theprocess of sub-step 3005, begins at sub-step 3101 where if an “expanddata” flag of the buffer descriptor associated with the current inputbuffer is set, then the process proceeds to sub-step 3103. Otherwise,the process proceeds to sub-step 3105. At sub-step 3103 the data of theuser interface element object associated with the selected userinterface element is expanded into a working buffer. At sub-step 3105,the working buffer is set as the current input buffer.

The process of sub-step 3005 continues at the next sub-step 3107 whereif the buffer action field of the buffer descriptor is set to pass-codemode, then the process proceeds to sub-step 3109. Otherwise, the processproceeds to sub-step 3111. At sub-step 3109 a pass-code checker processis executed by the CPU 275 to determine whether there are validpass-code entry attempts remaining and if so, whether the enteredpass-code stored in the input buffer matches a predetermined pass-codestored in the storage means 276 of the CPU card 100B. The pass-codechecker process will be explained in more detail below with reference toFIG. 32. At sub-step 3111, the data in the data field of the bufferdescriptor is copied into an output data. The process of sub-step 3005continues at the next sub-step 3113 where the contents of the workingbuffer are copied into the output buffer. At the next sub-step 3115, theCPU card 100B is set to standard input mode. The process of sub-step3005 concludes at the next sub-step 3117 where the input buffer iscleared.

2.6.4 Pass-code Checker Process

The pass-code checker process executed at sub-step 3109 of the processof FIG. 31, is invoked when user interface card resident applicationexecuting on CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B is in buffered pass-code inputmode and the user interface element 162 is selected. The process ofsub-step 3109 is preferably implemented as part of the user interfacecard resident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. As, seenin FIG. 32, the process of sub-step 3109 begins at sub-step 3201 whereif a pass-code retry counter stored in the storage means 276 is greaterthan zero then the process proceeds to sub-step 3203. Otherwise, theprocess of sub-step 3109 proceeds to sub-step 3215 where the outputbuffer is set to “wrong password”. At sub-step 3203, a pass-code filereferenced in the buffer descriptor data is read by the CPU 275. If thepass-code matches the input buffer at the next sub-step 3205, then theprocess proceeds to sub-step 3207 where an initial value is written tothe pass-code retry counter. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 3109proceeds to sub-step 3209 where the pass-code retry counter isdecremented and the process proceeds to sub-step 3215. After sub-step3207 the process of sub-step 3109 proceeds to sub-step 3211 where theoutput buffer is set to “pass-code OK”. The process of sub-step 3109concludes at sub-step 3213 where the user interface card residentapplication executing on the CPU card 100B is set to standard inputmode.

2.6.5 Buffer Cancel Process

The buffer cancel process as executed at sub-step 3009 during theprocess of FIG. 30 is invoked when the CPU card 100B is in bufferedinput mode and the user interface element 164 configured as a “cancelbutton” is selected by a user. The buffer cancel process results in thecancellation of buffered input mode (e.g. pass-code entry). However, inan implementation where pass-code entry is mandatory, a “cancel button”is not defined in the active buffer descriptor. The process of sub-step3009 is preferably implemented as part of the user interface cardresident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. As seen inFIG. 33, the process of sub-step 3009 begins at sub-step 3301 where ifthe buffer action is set to pass-code mode as defined by the actionfield of the buffer descriptor for the input buffer, then the processproceeds to sub-step 3303. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step3304 where the data defined by the data field of the current bufferdescriptor is copied into the output buffer. At sub-step 3303 the outputbuffer is set to “pass-code cancel”. The process of sub-step 3009continues at the next sub-step 3305 where the CPU card 100B is set tostandard input mode. The process concludes at the next sub-step 3307when the input buffer is cleared.

2.6.6 Buffer Backspace Process

The buffer backspace process as executed at sub-step 3017 of FIG. 30 andis invoked when the CPU card 100B is in buffered input mode and a userinterface element 154, which is configured as a backspace button (i.e.user interface element 168) is selected by a user. The process ofsub-step 3017 is preferably implemented as part of the user interfacecard resident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. As seen inFIG. 34, the process of sub-step 3017 begins at sub-step 3401 where ifthe input buffer length is greater than zero, then the process ofsub-step 3017 proceeds to sub-step 3403. Otherwise, the process ofsub-step 3017 concludes. At sub-step 3403, the last byte in the inputbuffer is cleared. The process of sub-step 3017 concludes at the nextsub-step 3405 where the input buffer length is decremented.

2.6.7 Buffer Append Process

The buffer append process as executed at sub-step 3021 of FIG. 30 isinvoked when the CPU card 100B is in buffered input mode and a validuser interface element 154 is selected by a user. The process ofsub-step 3021 is preferably implemented as part of the user interfacecard resident application program executing within the CPU 275 of themicroprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. As seen inFIG. 35, the process of sub-step 3021 begins at sub-step 3501 where ifthe length of the input buffer is less than a maximum length then theprocess proceeds to sub-step 3503. Otherwise, the process proceeds tosub-step 3505. At sub-step 3503 the length of the input buffer isincremented. The process of sub-step 3021 continues at the next sub-step3507 where the last byte in the input buffer is set to the currentobject identifier corresponding to the data object associated with theselected user interface element. At sub-step 3505 if the input buffer iscircular, then the process proceeds to sub-step 3509. Otherwise, theprocess concludes. At sub-step 3509 the bytes in the input buffer aremoved one place to the left and process proceeds to sub-step 3507. Theprocess of sub-step 3021 concludes after sub-step 3507.

2.6.8 Text User Interface Element Process

The text user interface element process of sub-step 2929, is executed toprocess a standard user interface element 154 having associated datawhich is stored in a corresponding user interface element objectdefinition stored in the storage means 276. The process of sub-step 2929is preferably implemented as part of the user interface card residentapplication program executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor259 and being stored in the storage means 276. As seen in FIG. 36, theprocess begins at sub-step 3601 where the flags associated with theselected user interface element corresponding to the (X,Y) coordinatesreceived at step 2801, are set for output by the CPU 275. At the nextsub-step 3603 if data is associated with the selected user interfaceelement 154, then the process proceeds to sub-step 3605. Otherwise, theprocess of sub-step 2929 concludes. At sub-step 3605 the data associatedwith the selected user interface element 154 is appended to the outputbuffer and the process of sub-step 2929 concludes.

2.6.9 Buffered User Interface Element Process

The buffered user interface element process, as executed at sub-step2927 of FIG. 29, checks a buffer descriptor associated with the currentinput buffer session and enters the CPU card 100B into buffered inputmode. The process of sub-step 2927 is preferably implemented as part ofthe user interface card resident application program executing withinthe CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and being stored in the storagemeans 276. As seen in FIG. 37, the process of sub-step 2927 begins atsub-step 3701 where the input buffer descriptor is examined by the CPU275 to determine whether the buffer descriptor is valid and whether datais present in the data field of the buffer descriptor. If the result ofsub-step 3701 is true, then the process of sub-step 2927 proceeds tosub-step 3703 where the user interface resident application executing onthe CPU card 100B is set to buffered input mode using the dataassociated with the user interface element 154 selected at sub-step2801. This data is used as the buffer descriptor. At the next sub-step3707, the output field of the buffer descriptor is appended to theoutput buffer and the process of sub-step 2927 concludes. If the resultof sub-step 3701 is false, then the flags associated with the selecteduser interface element 154 are set for output and the process ofsub-step 2927 concludes.

2.6.10 Delegator User Interface Element Process

The delegator user interface element process of sub-step 2925 reads theobject data associated with the user interface element 154 correspondingto the (X,Y) coordinates received by the user interface card residentapplication and determines an application identifier and an applicationprotocol data unit to be sent to the application referenced by theidentifier (i.e. the delegated application). The process of sub-step2925 then invokes the identified application and returns the result ofthe application as the data associated with the selected user interfaceelement. The ‘Multos’ delegate command can be used to invoke theidentified application. Therefore, as discussed above, the CPU card 100Bcan be loaded with several different application programs, which caninteract with one another. This allows card resident applications (e.gsecure online payment applications), to provide additional functionalityto the user interface card resident application described below,allowing data generated by these applications to be associated with userinterface elements.

The process of sub-step 2925 is preferably implemented as part of theuser interface card resident application program executing within theCPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means276. The process of sub-step 2925 begins at sub-step 3801 where theflags associated with the selected user interface element 154 are setfor output. At the sub-step 3803 if the data associated with theselected user interface element is present and identifies a validdelegator descriptor then the process proceeds to sub-step 3805.Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2925 concludes. At the sub-step 3805a delegator header associated with the delegate command is appended tothe output buffer. The process continues at the next sub-step 3807,where if the application identified in the delegator header exists thenthe process continues at sub-step 3809. Otherwise, the process ofsub-step 2925 concludes. At sub-step 3809 the identified application isinvoked by the CPU 275 with a provided application protocol data unit.The process of sub-step 2925 continues at the next sub-step 3811 whereif the operating system executing on the CPU card 100B responded withsuccess then the process continues at sub-step 3813. Otherwise, theprocess of sub-step 2925 concludes. At sub-step 3813 the delegatorresponse is appended to the output buffer and the process concludes.

2.6.11 Output Object Data Process

FIG. 39 is a flow diagram showing an output object data process asexecuted at sub-step 2817 when the CPU 275 of the CPU card 100B outputsdata to the reader 300. The process of sub-step 2817 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. The process of sub-step 2817 begins atsub-step 3001 where if an “encrypt outgoing data” flag associated withthe user interface element 154 selected at step 2801 is set then theprocess 3000 continues at sub-step 3003. Otherwise, the process 3000proceeds directly to sub-step 3007. At sub-step 3003 if there is asession key stored in the storage means 276, as explained above withreference to Table 28, then the process of sub-step 2817 proceeds tosub-step 3005. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2817 proceeds tosub-step 3913 where a “no session key” error identifier is returned bythe CPU 275 and the process of sub-step 2817 concludes. At sub-step 3005outgoing data is encrypted. The process of sub-step 2817 continues atthe next sub-step 3007 where the flags associated with the selected userinterface element are transmitted to the reader 300 via the datacontacts 278. At the next sub-step 3009, the length of the outgoing datais sent to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300. The process of sub-step 2817concludes at the next sub-step 3911 where the outgoing data is sent tothe CPU 1045 of the reader 300.

2.6.12 Save State Process

FIG. 40 is a flow diagram showing the save state process executed by theCPU 275 at sub-step 2611 of the proprietary instruction process of FIG.26 in response to a SAVE STATE command. The save state process saves allvolatile state information to non-volatile memory of the storage means276 and then generates a random state code of a specified length. Theprocess of sub-step 2611 is preferably implemented as part of the userinterface card resident application program executing within the CPU 275of the microprocessor 259 and being stored in the storage means 276. Asseen in FIG. 40, the save state process of sub-step 2611 begins atsub-step 4001 where the CPU 275 saves state information associated witha present state of the user interface card resident application tonon-volatile memory of the storage means 276. At the next sub-step 4003the CPU 275 generates a random value to be used as a state code. Thesave state process of sub-step 2611 continues at the next sub-step 4005where the state code is saved to the non-volatile memory of the storagemeans 276. The process of sub-step 2611 concludes at the next sub-step4007 where the state code is sent to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 andcan be stored in memory 1046.

2.6.12 Restore State Process

FIG. 41 is a flow diagram showing the restore state process executed bythe CPU 275 at sub-step 2603 of the proprietary instruction process ofFIG. 26 in response to a RESTORE STATE command. The restore stateprocess is configured to erase previous state information stored innon-volatile memory of the storage means 276 if the presented state codeis not identical to the previous state code generated during a previousSAVE STATE command. The process of sub-step 2603 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. As seen in FIG. 41, the restore stateprocess of sub-step 2603 begins at sub-step 4101 where if the presentstate code stored in non-volatile memory 276 matches the state codecontained in the data field of the RESTORE STATE application protocoldata unit then the process proceeds to sub-step 4103. At sub-step 4103,the state information stored in volatile memory of the storage means 276is replaced by the previously stored state information stored in thenon-volatile memory of the storage means 276. Therefore, the save stateprocess allows the user interface card resident application to return tothe state that the application was in prior to the reader 300 beingsuspended to a low power state, for example, and it is not necessary fora user of the CPU card 100B to log back into the CPU card 100B. Such afunction provides greater convenience to a user of the CPU card 100B. Atthe next sub-step 4105, the CPU 275 returns a successful operationidentifier to the reader 300.

If the presented state code is not correct, at sub-step 4101, then thesave state process of sub-step 2603 proceeds to sub-step 4107, where thestate information previously stored in non-volatile memory of thestorage means 276 is erased. At the next sub-step 4109, an operationsfailed error is returned by the CPU 275 to the CPU 1045 of the reader300 and the process of sub-step 2603 concludes. Therefore, the userinterface card resident application returns to an initial default stateand a user of the CPU card 100B is forced to log back in the CPU card100B, for example. This function provides the card 100B with greatersecurity since it prevents unauthorised readers from restoring the stateinformation of the user interface card resident application and thus theCPU card 100B. The state of the CPU card 100B can only be restored whenthe present state code is equal to the previous state code supplied bythe reader 300.

2.6.13 Select File Process

FIG. 42 is a flow diagram showing a select file process executed by theCPU 275 at sub-step 2703 in response to a SELECT FILE command beingreceived by the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2703 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. As seen in FIG. 42, the process ofsub-step 2703 begins at sub-step 4201 where if the file identified inthe data field of the select file application protocol data unit (asshown in table 40) exists then the process continues at sub-step 4203.Otherwise, a “no file” error is returned by the CPU 275 to the reader300 and the process of sub-step 2703 concludes. At sub-step 4203, iffile control information was requested by the parameter P2 field of theselect file application protocol data unit then the process continues atthe next sub-step 4205. Otherwise, the process of sub-step 2703 proceedsto sub-step 4209 where a success code is returned by the CPU 275 to thereader 300 and the process concludes. At sub-step 4205, file controlinformation is sent by the CPU 275 to the CPU 1045 of the reader 300 andthe process of sub-step 2703 concludes.

2.6.14 Read Binary Process

FIG. 43 is a flow diagram showing a read binary process executed by theCPU 275 at sub-step 2707 in response to a READ BINARY command beingreceived by the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2707 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. As shown in FIG. 43, the read binaryprocess is executed to read data from a currently selected elementaryfile stored in the storage means 276. The process of sub-step 2707begins at sub-step 4301 where if the currently selected file is able tobe read then the process proceeds to sub-step 4303. Otherwise, theprocess proceeds to sub-step 4317 where a security error is returned tothe reader 300 by the CPU 275. At sub-step 4303 if the offset identifiedby the P1 and P2 parameters of the read binary application protocol dataunit is valid then the process proceeds to sub-step 4305. Otherwise, theprocess of sub-step 2707 proceeds to sub-step 4315 where a bad offseterror identifier is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU 275. Atsub-step 4305 if the number of bytes requested by the Le field of theread binary application protocol data unit are able to be read by theCPU 275, then the process proceeds to sub-step 4307. Otherwise, theprocess proceeds to sub-step 4309. At sub-step 4307, all of the bytes ofthe requested file are sent to the reader 300 by the CPU 275. Theprocess continues at sub-step 4311 where a success code identifier isreturned to the reader 300 by the CPU 275 and the process of sub-step2707 concludes. At sub-step 4309, all available bytes of the requestedfile are sent to the user interface card resident application by the CPU275. At the next sub-step 4313 an end of file warning is returned by theCPU 275 and the process of sub-step 2707 concludes.

2.6.15 Write Binary Process

FIG. 44 is a flow diagram showing a write binary process executed by theCPU 275 at sub-step 2711 in response to a WRITE BINARY command beingreceived by the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2711 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. The write binary process is executed atsub-step 2711 to write data to a currently selected elementary file. Asseen in FIG. 44, the process of sub-step 2711 begins at sub-step 4401where if the currently selected file is able to be written to by the CPU275 then the process proceeds to sub-step 4403. Otherwise, the processproceeds to sub-step 4417 where a security error identifier is returnedto the reader 300 by the CPU 275. At sub-step 4403 if the offsetidentified by the P1 and P2 parameters of the write binary applicationprotocol data unit are less than the maximum length of the selected filethen the process of sub-step 2711 proceeds to sub-step 4405. Otherwise,the process of sub-step 2711 proceeds to sub-step 4415 where a badoffset error identifier is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU 275. Atsub-step 4405 if the number of bytes requested by the data field of thewrite binary application protocol data unit are able to be written bythe CPU 275, then the process proceeds to sub-step 4407. Otherwise, theprocess proceeds to sub-step 4409. At sub-step 4407 all of the bytes ofthe requested file are written to by the CPU 275. The process continuesat sub-step 4411 where a success code identifier is returned to thereader 300 by the CPU 275 and the process of sub-step 2711 concludes. Atsub-step 4409, all available bytes of the requested file are written bythe CPU 275 to the selected file stored in the storage means 276. At thenext sub-step 4413 an end of file warning identifier is returned by theCPU 275 to the reader 300 and the process of sub-step 2711 concludes.

2.6.16 Erase Binary Process

FIG. 45 is a flow diagram showing an erase binary process executed bythe CPU 275 at sub-step 2715 in response to an ERASE BINARY commandbeing received by the user interface resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2715 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. The erase binary process is executed atsub-step 2715 to truncate a currently selected elementary file stored inthe storage means 276, depending on the parameters received with theERASE BINARY command. The process of sub-step 2715 begins at sub-step4501 where if the write permission of the currently selected file isvalid then the process proceeds to sub-step 4503. Otherwise, the processproceeds to sub-step 4517 where a security error is returned to thereader 300 by the CPU 275. At sub-step 4503 if the desired length of thefile identified by the offsets of the P1 and P2 parameters of the erasebinary application protocol data unit is less than the current length ofthe file then the process proceeds to sub-step 4505. Otherwise, theprocess of sub-step 2715 proceeds to sub-step 4513 where a bad offseterror identifier is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU 275. Atsub-step 4505 if the selected file is erasable (i.e. it is not writeprotected and an associated ‘erasable’ flag is set) then the processproceeds to sub-step 4507. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step4511. At sub-step 4507 all of the requested bytes are erased from theselected file by the CPU 275. The process continues at sub-step 4509where a success code identifier is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU275 and the process of sub-step 2715 concludes. At sub-step 4511, a badfile warning is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU 275 and theprocess of sub-step 2715 concludes.

2.6.17 Get Challenge Instruction

2.6.17.1 Get Challenge

FIG. 46 is a flow diagram showing a get challenge process executed bythe CPU 275 at sub-step 2719 in response to a GET CHALLENGE commandbeing received by the user interface card resident application executingwithin the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2719 is preferablyimplemented as part of the user interface card resident applicationprogram executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor 259 and beingstored in the storage means 276. The get challenge process is executedto provide challenge data in order to allow the security level of theCPU card 100B to be changed. The process of sub-step 2719 begins atsub-step 4601 where the CPU 275 generates a random data string. At thenext step 4603 the data string is saved to the storage means 276. Thenat sub-step 4605 the retry counter stored in the storage means 276 isset to maximum. The process of sub-step 2719 concludes at sub-step 4607where the generated data string is sent to the CPU 1045 of the reader300.

2.6.17.2 External Authenticate

FIG. 47 is a flow diagram showing an external authenticate processexecuted by the CPU 275 at sub-step 2723 in response to a EXTERNALAUTHENTICATE command being received by the user interface card residentapplication executing within the CPU 275. The process of sub-step 2723is preferably implemented as part of the user interface card residentapplication program executing within the CPU 275 of the microprocessor259 and being stored in the storage means 276. The external authenticateprocess decrypts presented data using a private key associated with arequested security level. The process of sub-step 2723 begins sub-step4701 where if the requested security level is lower than the currentsecurity level then the process proceeds sub-step 4703. Otherwise, theprocess proceeds to 4709. At sub-step 4703 the security level of the CPUcard 100B is set to the requested security level by the CPU 275. Theprocess of sub-step 2723 continues at the next sub-step 4705 where theretry counter stored in the storage means 276 is reset. At the nextsub-step 4707 a success code identifier is returned by the CPU 275.

At sub-step 4709 if there is any command data associated with theEXTERNAL AUTHENTICATE command then the process proceeds to sub-step4711. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step 4719 where a badcommand data error identifier is returned by the CPU 275. At sub-step4711 if the retry counter is greater than zero then process proceeds tosub-step 4713. Otherwise, the process proceeds to sub-step 4721 where abad challenge error identifier is returned to the reader 300 by the CPU275. At sub-step 4713 if a private key exists for the requested securitylevel then the process proceeds to sub-step 4715. Otherwise, the processproceeds to sub-step 4723 where a data not found error is returned tothe reader 300 by the CPU 275. At sub-step 4715, the command dataassociated with the external authenticate command is decrypted using theprivate key. The process of sub-step 2723 continues at the next sub-step4717 where if the decrypted data matches the original challenge datathen the process proceeds to sub-step 4703. Otherwise, the process ofstep 2723 proceeds to sub-step 4725 where the retry count isdecremented. The process of sub-step 2723 concludes at the next sub-step4727 where the CPU 275 generates the number of attempts remaining.

The aforementioned preferred methods comprise a particular control flow.There are many other variants of the preferred methods which usedifferent control flows without departing the spirit or scope of theinvention. Furthermore one or more of the sub-steps of the preferredmethod(s) may be executed in parallel rather sequential.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention,and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments beingillustrative and not restrictive. For example, the user interfaceelements 114, 154 can be positioned otherwise than on the smart card100. The user interface elements 114, 154 may, for example, be displayedon a display device (e.g. 616).

1. A method of providing an interface for a first software application,said first software application being retained within a memory means ofan electronic card together with one or more retained data strings, saidelectronic card comprising one or more user interface elements formedthereon, with at least one of said user interface elements beingassociated with a user interface element object stored in said memorymeans, said memory means being coupled to a processor means of saidelectronic card, said processor means being coupled to a reading deviceconfigured to facilitate reading of said electronic card, said methodcomprising at least the steps of: executing at least said first softwareapplication and a second software application stored within said memorymeans using said processor means, said second software application beingconfigured to use said user interface element object in order toassociate reading signals generated by said reading device in responseto a selection of at least one of said user interface elements with acommand to be issued to said first software application, wherein saidsecond software application provides an interface between said firstsoftware application and said one or more user interface elements, andenables at least one of the retained data strings to be reconfiguredthrough selection of one or more of said user interface elements underpredetermined conditions.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein atleast one of said retained data strings includes a reference to saidfirst software application.
 3. A method according to claim 1, whereinsaid second software application is configured to store a sequence ofuser interface element selections within a first buffer of said memorymeans.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said sequence forms aportion of said command issued to said first software application bysaid second software application.
 5. A method according to claim 1,wherein said reading signals comprise position information of said userinterface elements on a surface, and said second software applicationperforms a mapping function to associate said position information withsaid command.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said firstsoftware application is configured to store at least one of saidretained data strings within a second buffer of said memory means inresponse to said reading signals.
 7. A method according to claim 6,wherein contents of said second buffer are processed in response to auser selection of at least one of said user interface elements.
 8. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein said second application isconfigured to perform a secure access checking function for enabling orrejecting user access to said first software application.
 9. Anapparatus for providing an interface for a first software application,said first software application being retained within a memory means ofan electronic card together with one or more retained data strings, saidelectronic card comprising one or more user interface elements formedthereon with at least one of said user interface elements beingassociated with a user interface element object stored in said memorymeans, said memory means being coupled to a processor means of saidelectronic card, said processor means being coupled to a reading deviceconfigured to facilitate reading of said electronic card, said apparatuscomprising: execution means for executing at least said first softwareapplication and a second software application stored within said memorymeans using said processor means, said second software application beingconfigured to use said user interface element object in order toassociate reading signals generated by said reading device in responseto a selection of at least one of said user interface elements with acommand to be issued to said first software application, wherein saidsecond software application provides an interface between said firstsoftware application and said one or more user interface elements, andenables at least one of the retained data strings to be reconfiguredthrough selection of one or more of said user interface elements underpredetermined conditions.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, whereinat least one of said retained data strings includes a reference to saidfirst software application.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 9,wherein said second software application is configured to store asequence of user interface element selections within a first buffer ofsaid memory means.
 12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein saidsequence forms a portion of said command issued to said first softwareapplication by said second software application.
 13. An apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein said reading signals comprise positioninformation of said user interface elements on a surface, and saidsecond software application performs a mapping function to associatesaid position information with said command.
 14. An apparatus accordingto claim 9, wherein said first software application is configured tostore at least one of said retained data strings within a second bufferof said memory means in response to said reading signals.
 15. Anapparatus according to claim 14, wherein contents of said second bufferare processed in response to a user selection of at least one of saiduser interface elements.
 16. An apparatus according to claim 9, whereinsaid second application is configured to perform a secure accesschecking function for enabling or rejecting user access to a said firstsoftware application.
 17. A computer program for providing an interfacefor a first software application, said first software application beingretained within a memory means of an electronic card together with oneor more retained data strings, said electronic card comprising one ormore user interface elements formed thereon with at least one of saiduser interface elements being associated with a user interface elementobject stored in said memory means, said memory means being coupled to aprocessor means of said electronic card, said processor means beingcoupled to a reading device configured to facilitate reading of saidelectronic card, said computer program comprising: code for executing atleast said first software application and a second software applicationstored within said memory means using said processor means, said secondsoftware application being configured to use said user interface elementobject in order to associate reading signals generated by said readingdevice in response to a selection of at least one of said user interfaceelements with a command to be issued to said first software application,wherein said second software application provides an interface betweensaid first software application and said one or more user interfaceelements, and enables at least one of the retained data strings to bereconfigured through selection of one or more of said user interfaceelements under predetermined conditions.